Alaska
by Fleppy85
Summary: It had been 2 years since Sofia was killed by a mobster, Sara left Vegas - and Grissom - shortly after that, went to South America and now she got a new job in Alaska. Far away from Vegas and her past and yet, it seems like there's a surprise of her past waiting for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Two years later…**

**Part 1**

Gosh, was it the right decision to go to Alaska? Snow, ice and minus twenty two degrees during the day. Thick boots, two shirts, a jacket, two pair of socks, two pair of gloves, long underwear, thermo pants and snow pants. A scarf, a woolen cap extra protection for her ears. She wished, she had something to cover face up completely. How were people suppose to survive in a place like this? Everywhere you looked at was snow and ice and…everything was just white. White huts, white cars, white signs, white sky, everything. And not slightly white, like when you wake up in an early winter morning, it was deep white, covered with at six or seven inches of snow.

It couldn't be more different from her last destination, Peru. She missed the tree of the rain forest, the songs of the birds, the green of the leaves and grass already. The blue sky, the sunshine, animals all around her, some curious who or what she was, some scared of her, the possible predator. Why again did she agree on going to Alaska? What the hell did she think when she agreed on this trip? Not only all those hours in a plane, the change from hot summer into cold winter gave her physical pain. Why? Why did she do it?

The answer was as simple as it was painful. Because her project in Peru was over and she had the choice between going back to the States, back into her old job as a CSI or signing in for another job. She wasn't somebody with a lot of experience, she couldn't choose, she had to take, what they offered her. And all they offered her was Alaska. After four months in Peru they sent her to Alaska – for at least six months. Was she smart or crazy to accept? At the moment she went for the latter one.

How was she supposed to find her destination? Or the place she had to go to. Her destination couldn't be here, couldn't be on a place like here. For a moment the thought of being back in Las Vegas wasn't that bad anymore. At least it was warm there. She had never been a person who liked cold weather. You couldn't do anything when it was cold, you were locked inside your house, saw ugly weather conditions when you looked out of the window and waited for the sunshine to brighten and warm up the day. No, Alaska wasn't her destination, it wasn't her place to be. It was…a choice she made and had to live with now.

You never knew what your choices were good for until you haven't given them a chance.

There was something that looked like a building; under all the snow. If the building of the nature project was the biggest around, it should be this one. And as far Sara knew, all operations were coordinated from here. There was a lab, a headquarter and a place to help injured animals. It made sense when this big building was the place she had to go first. Tell them she was here, get her keys to her hut and…find something hot to drink. Coffee! She barely touched the black liquid in Peru, now she felt how her body craved for it.

"Don't be a wimp! You wanted Alaska, you wanted something else than Vegas, you wanted cute little baby seals…well, you have to take the whole deal and not only cherry pick." Of all things Alaska.

Slipping the last yards on some ice (where the hell did this come from?) she fell more into the door than she knocked on it and opened it. Very comfortable warmth greeted her. Not like in some shopping malls, where they blow hot air in your face, mess up your hair and make your skin dry like a day in the desert, it felt good, made you realize there were some nerves still working in your face and you were able to feel something.

A woman sat behind a little counter and smiled at her. Black curls, black glasses and dark eyes. An interesting contrast to the white landscape outside.

"Terrible cold outside, eh?"

Canadian.

"Yes, it is." Eh.

"How can I help you?"

"I'm Sara Sidle I'm supposed to start my new job here today."

"Lorne. Come with me, I take you to Bruce."

Sara starred at the woman for a second. She didn't get instructions where to go, she got taken to her new boss? That's what she called service. Typical Canadian, very friendly and helpful.

Another thing that amazed Sara about Lorne was, she managed to walk on at least five inches needle thin heels without the attempt to lose her balance for a second or two. Confident and like she walked in her favorite sneakers, the woman walked through an open door and waited for Sara. How did she manage to get to work in these shoes? She should have been stuck in the snow after the first step.

"The trick is, you change shoes." Lorne explained although Sara never said her question out loud. She turned and smiled knowingly at Sara. "You put on your thick boot and as soon as you're at work you change into heels. Never ever try to walk in heels outside, you'll ruin your shoes within the first yards."

"I would worry more about my ankles." Flushing a bit because the woman read her mind Sara noticed even with these heels the woman wasn't as tall as she was.

"Frozen toes too. On your left side you see the area for the guys who work outside most of the day. We are in a nature sanctuary and there're two dozen people outside checking on animals, making sure nobody gets in and hunts. Last year two hunter shot three polar bears and a four dozen baby seals. You see one of them, you better shoot them…I didn't say that loud, did I?"

"I haven't heard anything." Sara smiled.

"Good. Bruce always says you shouldn't say out loud what you think all the time. Especially not when you don't know if the other one gets you."

"People who work here should all get you."

"They should, eh? So what are you specialized in?"

"Materials and elements analysis." That was her CSI life, she should think of her new life. "I'm quite good with cars." Again CSI life, Sara. "…and everything in the lab. I guess." Great, she couldn't even make the front lady believe she was the best for this job. How was she supposed to make her boss and new colleagues believe she was…no disaster? Eh.

"You worked for many years as a CSI, I think you'll be perfect for the lab."

"Thanks." Did everybody here know what she did for a living before she went to Peru? "How many people work here?"

"Around thirty, Two dozen are out, you're four guys in the lab, one secretary, our boss and two people we have no clue what they are hired for but they do everything they get asked to do and are great fun to be with. Plus they're amazing with animals. Oh, there is a vet who also takes care of the animals in town."

Town? What town? Did she talk about this little collection of huts? That wasn't a town, that was a…long term camp side. Only slightly smaller than the camp she had been in before. And much colder. But she established that already.

"And there's a hut at the outer side, further up north, right at the sea. The best place to spot animals. One is there, making sure the only hunter are out there have four legs. Pretty amazing and very lonely job but you see some really great nature spectaculars there. Worth a trip, eh." She knocked on a door and opened it before there was the request to step in. "Got our new woman, Bruce. Don't forget your ten o'clock appointment, eh." Lorne smiled at Sara and pushed her into the room.

Puzzled she found herself in a little office with a man in his early sixties. Great. Gray hair, a beard, she met Grissom's long lost twin. That's gonna be fun.

"Hey, you must be Sara." Not Canadian…something else…

"Yes. Hello."

"Have a seat, wanna have a coffee?"

"Yes, please." Coffee sounded like the best word she had heard in a long, long time. Like a child on Christmas Day took it's presents, she took her mug of coffee and sipped on the hot, black magic liquid. Immediately she felt how it ran through her whole body, arrived in her toes and almost made her sight in satisfaction.

"Coffee is always a great help, up here it's essential."

"I can feel my toes again." She smiled.

"You're from Vegas, I assume you're not used to the cold. And before you came here you lived a couple of months in Peru and before that in Costa Rica, both warmer places than this. Why are you in Alaska now, Miss Sidle?"

Because this was the best I could get. "Because they offered me Alaska. The other option was going back to Las Vegas, be a CSI again and I don't feel like working around dead people every night. Frankly, I enjoyed the time in Costa Rica and Peru and if I had the chance to stay there, I had taken it. So it was Alaska or Las Vegas and I picked Alaska." This was the truth and didn't sound as desperate as her thought.

"You're not a fan of ice and snow?"

"Are you?" She turned table.

He laughed. "I'm an Aussie, up from Darwin, the only time we see snow or cold weather is when we turn on the TV and watch a documentation. Over forty years I lived in a place where we barely had less than twenty degrees Celsius…I think it's sixty-eight in Fahrenheit…and we talk about winter nights. I love the snow and the ice. We had a lot of snow the last days, two days ago we couldn't use our cars, had to take the Husky sled to get out, believe me, that's the greatest fun on earth. For no sandy beach in the world I'd change this. But I can understand when people think it's too cold. I think, it's the best temperature to leave your beer in a stubbie holder outside for a few minutes and have a cold drink. Or envy your coffee."

"You leave your beer in what?"

"A stubbie. Wait." He bent down, opened a drawer and took something out, he then gave to Sara. Something…a cover…maybe thermo….for a beer bottle? A can?

"That's a stubbie holder. You put your beer inside and it stays longer cold. Or your mug with coffee and it stays longer hot. They're quite common in Australia and New Zealand."

"This seems to be a very international group. Lorne is Canadian."

"Obviously. Eh?" He laughed. "Yes, we're around thirty people from a dozen different countries. Got a couple Americans, a bloke from Greenland, a Sheila from Iceland, two from Antarctica, four Canadians and a Pome."

"A what?"

"A woman from England."

"Oh." Not only the accent was strange, even the words. "Okay."

"So, let's have a look what you can do here. You know a lot about labs, I think we'll let you help the guys in there out. Means you have to analyses water, examples of soil, flowers or whatever else the guys from the outside need analyzed. Sometimes you have to get out to them, for days like two days ago, we'll train you to drive a dog sled. It will come in handy at one point, winter has only started. You are allowed to carry a gun?"

"I had one as a CSI, for Alaska I need a permission."

"We get you one. We're here to protect the animals, sometimes we have to defend ourselves. From a polar bear that doesn't understand we're a friend and not food or an enemy or from a hunter, who doesn't like us between him and the money he sees in the seals or bears.

Usually we work from eight to four, sometimes we need to get out during the night because bad people prefer to do bad things in the shadow of the night – as you will know. There are always at least two people in one group, better three. If you are asked to work outside you tell Lorne when you leave and let her know when you arrive. She knows how long you're supposed to need to get to your destination, if you haven't called in half an hour after your estimate arrival time and haven't sent her a reason why, she'll send out a team to search for you. So please her know ASAP when there're reasons for delay. Otherwise we waste a lot of time and money.

There's one outer point, a hut, where the Pom…the woman from England works. She stays there permanently. It's a spot where you see a lot of polar bears and seals and therefore a place hunters are attracted to. Twice a day she makes her round, checks on everything, stays in frequent contact with us, works in a little hut to watch the animals. You'll go there too when you and the dogs are ready for the trip. It takes around three hours when the dogs are fast."

"You only use the dog sled?"

"In winter we use it most times. All the technical wonders mankind has built might be fast but the thing you can rely on best are eight dogs and a wooden sled."

"Roald Amundsen made it to the south pole with dogs while his rival Robert Falcon Scott tried his luck with dogs, ponies and motorized vehicles and died on their return."

"So you know some things about cold areas. Yes, it's with the ice like it's with everything. You put something in a wrong environment, it doesn't work out. Our dogs, they belong into ice and snow, they can handle it. You don't find ponies up this north. And the vehicles at that times certainly weren't made for those temperatures. Take the dogs, they are very reliable, look much better and are environment friendly."

"Hey, you teach me how to drive the sled and I won't take anything else anymore." Sara grinned. She liked the idea of driving a sled with eight dogs in front. Who needed reindeers when there were dogs?


	2. Chapter 2

A week later she still wasn't used to the cold, still swore every morning when she had to get up and the temperature was somewhere around minus twenty-two. The wind was even worse. Every inch of her skin that wasn't hidden or covered with clothes, scarf or anything thick – and in the best case woolen – felt like somebody stuck needles in her skin. Fine thin needles, again and again, spreading the pain all over her face. Her eyes started to burn, the tears she cried because of the cold became ice on her face (or felt like it at least), her nose was constantly running, her lips were more blue than red and the skin was dry and the temperature less than half of it was supposed to be.

Her new home, a little apartment made of wood was amazingly warm. The heater made her feel comfortable, the electric blanket heated up her bed every evening before she slipped in, the candles she preferred over the electric light when she talked to Greg on the internet or lay on her bed and watched the sky before she closed the curtains. Astonishing. Deep dark blue sky, bright and shiny stars, so far away and at the same time so clear like they were just above the hut. It wasn't classy, it wasn't fancy, it wasn't modern, the whole place couldn't be more different to Las Vegas and that was exactly the reason why she loved it.

Despite the cold, the feeling of nothing having toes anymore, the skin – especially on her hands – covered in tiny wounds, making them hurt, sometimes there was even some blood and the fact when she opened her window too long to get some fresh air inside and having her coffee ice cold or frozen when she didn't pay attention, she loved this place.

One week and she knew everybody by their name. All in all there were only fifty people living here, thirty of them were her colleagues, the rest were their family, the shop owner who also run the only take away, the hair dresser who was the florist too, the butcher (not that Sara needed him) who was also in charge of keeping the whole place clean, a vet, a GP, a teacher, six house wives and five kids. So, not many people.

On the other hand were the animals. Over one hundred Huskies, a few chicken and a rooster in a barn, half a dozen cows and pigs, twenty sheep, a dozen Iceland horses, a few cats (most times inside because there was no reason for them to get out) and one tropical aquarium. A place with more animals than human was exactly what she was after. Plus she hadn't met anybody who wasn't friendly and helpful.

On her first night in her new hut people came along to welcome her, all brought little gifts that were very useful. One woman, knowing Sara would come, hat knitted her a scarf that was two yards long and half a yard wide. Wearing this scarf Sara could hide her whole head and feel warm. Somebody else made her a kidney belt of angora wool, so far Sara's favorite piece of clothes. It kept her amazingly warm and she wished she could dress her body in angora, leaving only a little slot for her eyes, covered them up with one of the skiing glasses.

And her first lesson driving a dog's sled. She had failed to get the dogs to wherever she wanted to go. They took her everywhere. After the second or third try she got better was certain pretty soon she was able to drive the sled just as good as a car.

"Yo Vegas!"

Sara ignored the voice coming from four tables away. Ryan, a twenty – two years young man from Minneapolis preferred to call her Vegas than by her name. After she told him two or three times patiently this wasn't her name, she made the decision to ignore him when he didn't call her Sara.

"Vegas!"  
"Why don't you try it with her real name, Sucker?" Anna answered for Sara. She was in her late forties and most of the time annoyed by the young man, who seemed to have a nickname for everybody.

"Can't remember I called you, Brainy."

"At least I've got a brain." Like Sara, Anna had been to Harvard and Berkley, became a doctor and worked since four years here.

"I've got two hot lips that might kiss some life into Vegas."

"You come close to her and she'll castrate you." Anna laughed. Her husband, Barnie, worked for them as well. He was one of the men who spend most of the day outside, checking on animals.

"She would never take herself the chance away to spend an unforgettable night with me."

"Castrating you can be an unforgettable night – and a release for all women around. Why don't you put in your application for San Diego, plenty of women down there and you might get lucky."

"I like challenges. Sara?"

"Yes." She turned, trying not to grin or look to satisfied he called her by her real name finally.

"Can you call Evi? She should be back with the newest results."

"Sure…how am I supposed to do that?"

He pushed his chair next to hers. "Go into Skype, add a new contact: Evangeline007UK." His fingers flew over her keyboard. "I sent her a message you're the new woman of the team so she knows who you are. Give her a call, her computer is on the whole day. She'll answer when she's around. Tell her White Paw is fine."

"White Paw?"

"Two weeks ago we got a polar bear in who got shot by a hunter. Fortunately Evi was around, she could stop the guy from killing White Paw, seduced him, called in the vet, we took the bear in and released it today. Good as new and the asshole who shot it will face court. It's a pity that we just can't shoot him and leave him out in the ice. If he's lucky too somebody might help him otherwise he'll die the animals have a problem less."

"You're not supposed to be that fundamental." Sara teased him, knowing she shared parts of his view. Maybe not the shooting and leaving the man out to die but she agreed on the consequences weren't hard enough.

"Ryan, you need a shave." The voice of a woman came out of the speaker. Automatically Sara searched for a picture and couldn't find one. Why did the voice know Ryan needed a shave? He was way past a five o'clock shade.

"Evi, I shave as soon as you ask me out for a date."

"You'll join ZZTop in this case. Who's the one next to you?"

"Our new member of the team. Vegas."

"And for real?"

"Sara. Get your cam started, we wanna see you as well."

"Not today, I use it to record the area in front of my hut. If I wasn't mistaken there were some traces of polar bears this morning. First time ever they came this close. It's more important to see if they're really around than how I look."

"She's gorgeous." Ryan explained to Sara with having her asked. "Imagine an angel with short black hair, dark brown eyes and a smile that makes the ice melt. The only downside is this annoying poshy British accent. When will you lose that, Babe?"

"When you grow up and act like an adult. Pleasure to talk to you Sara."

"Likewise. Even if Ryan does the talking after he told me to call you."

"Because you need the information. A bunch of numbers and strange names, I'm too stupid to understand them." He grinned and vanished with his chair back to his desk.

"Sure." Sara knew Ryan was a smart man and could get the results himself. She was supposed to do it today because she had to learn it. From calling the British woman to entering the results in the right system.

"Evangeline, I'm supposed to tell you White Paw is fine and free again while the asshole who shot him will face court."

"It's Evi and I'm pleased to hear the innocent one is free and healthy while the arsehole has to pay. Shall we start?"

"Yes." Time to do something new.

* * *

The air felt colder and colder, stuck its little needles in her face before a hot rush made them disappear. Something was wrong, something wasn't like it was supposed to be. Sara wasn't aware of the mistake only that she made a mistake. A big one. Hit the wrong jackpot. Slowly she realized how the world stopped shaking and she started to feel light. Like she was a feather. Then everything that looked straight and normal to her changed into a strange angle. The two huts on her right looked wrong, like in a comic. Her view changed. From looking over the backs and heads of eight Huskies to her brown sled, legs and bellies of the Huskies into white, just white and…then the world became black because she crushed into the hard snow, face first and stopped on her chin. So much for she was able to drive a sled. A little bit of uneven surface and she was down.

Feeling the pain of the fall, cursing herself for being this stupid and waiting for the pain to set in, telling her she hadn't broken anything important, she stayed on the ground, her head buried in the snow.

"Sara!"

Her ears had to be all right, she could hear. Who called out for her wasn't clear, it was a male voice, everything else was a secret. Jeez, the snow started to be really cold on her face, maybe she should try to get up or at least turn and face the gray white sky instead of the ice cold white snow.

"Sara!" Hands grabbed and turned her. Two very worried gray eyes appeared. "Sara, are you all right?"

"I think I broke my ego." She managed to say with a little smile.

Immediately the worried face of Ryan changed into relief and a little smile. "Better the ego than anything else." He kept her in his arms, carefully stroke some snow out of her face. "Are you in pain?"

"I'm not sure."

"Okay, I get you back home." Like she weighted nothing he lifted her up, carried her to the sled a few yards away, kicked it upright with one leg and placed Sara onto it.

"I'm not…"

"You stay there, I give you a ride home. One fall on head per day is enough." He placed the woolen blanket over her and gave the dogs the sign to run. Fast and smooth the sled glided over the rough surface.

So much for her trip with the sledge. She didn't make it around the little village, she lost control half way. How was she supposed to work outside, go to other places, when she couldn't get her dogs and herself around the village? Snuggling deeper into the blanket to escape the cold wind she closed her eyes. She didn't have any problems with her work in the lab, the change of the climate, tracing the DNA of animals to see from where they come and who is related to whom, no problem. Figuring out how much ice melted every year, an easy and scary job but when it came to the dog sled…she was fine on the snowy streets, absolute no problem there. When she left the streets and had to get into the area nobody had been before – or at least nobody left an even surface – she was a hopeless case.

"Home sweet home." Ryan stopped the sled in front of her hut. Not letting her get up herself he lifted her up and carried her to the door.

"I can walk."

"Probably. But I won't let you walk. You're lucky I don't take you straight to the doctor, which I will if you have a headache or feel sick. For now I will carry you inside, you will lay down while I take care of the dogs and when you don't feel better in half an hour we call the doctor."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"Who said you have one? Keys."

"This is my hut."

"That's why I tell you to open the door with the keys, otherwise I might kick the door in."

Cursing quietly she got the keys out of her pocket and opened the door; while she was still in Ryan's arms.

When the door opened he grinned. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kissing the bride would get me into agony so I'll carry you into the room without a kiss and give my love and affection to the dogs."

"Wise decision."

"I'm a smart man." He put her on her bed. "Do us both a favor and stay in bed, please."

"Don't you think I can take care of myself."

"Of course you can. Do you think it's wrong to have some help sometimes?"

"No." She sighed.

"See. I'll be back soon. You're allowed to undress." He grinned widely. "I like that part."

"Get lost!"

"Be right back."

When he closed the door behind himself she sighed and kicked off her boots. In some ways Ryan reminded her of Greg, the reason why she let him carry her and allowed him to come back into her hut. What she had to get into his head was, that he better stopped the flirting or he got himself into trouble.

Slowly she sat up, realized the world spun a bit and closed her eyes. Right. She fell on her head, the worst possibility was a concussion, the best case was just a headache. When she started to feel sick it was the worse case and she had to call the doctor. Carefully she took off her coat, the scarf and gloves. Deciding it was warm in her hut she put off her pants and pullover, wearing only her thermo pants and a long sleeve. Time for a coffee. She started the coffee machine and smiled when she looked at the bag of coffee beans. A present from Greg. He said when his coffee was with her, it couldn't take much time before he was here too. Only to visit her because Alaska was way too cold for him. Hopefully he wanted to see his coffee soon – and her.

"How do you feel?" Ryan was back, took off his boats, coat, gloves and scarf. He took the dogs to a shed where all of the dogs stayed. It was reasonably warm in there, they were safe in case a polar bear might fancied a trip to the little village and everybody had to key to get a sled and the dogs when needed. Sara referred to it one day as a huge garage for natural vehicles.

"I've a little headache."

"Mhm." He stepped closer to her, checked on her eyes. "Why don't you sit down and I take care of the coffee?"

"Thanks. There are some cookies in the cupboard. Left hand side. The cups are on the right."

"Sounds perfect."

Sara lay down on her bed. In her little hut wasn't a couch, only a bed, a table with two chairs and was all when it came to place to sit down. She didn't feel like sitting on a chair, like she never felt watching the news from the chairs. She either was in bed or walking around, preparing something to eat. Not that she had become a housewife and cooked special meals for herself but she cooked small things.

"Do you have some milk and sugar?"

"Of course. Left down."

"Thanks." He prepared their coffees, put some cookies on a plate and carried it to her bed. For himself he got a chair. "You have a scratch there." He got with his finger over his forehead. "Not deep, it's not bleeding."

"Guess I landed on my head."

"You did. Any other wounds?"

"No, not that I've noticed them so far. And no, I don't want you to check."

"What a pity." She smiled softly. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"Stop calling me Vegas and stop flirting. I'm not interested, Ryan."

"That's a lot to ask and a shame."

"I'm almost twice your age."

"Nobody would care if it was the other way around."

"Just stop it. Please."

"Okay. For now. Can't promise I'll never flirt with you again. I like it too much."

"I don't like it."

"Because it's me?"

"No." She sighed.

"Sorry, not my business."

"When I left Vegas and went to South America, I was engaged. Somehow I hoped he'd come with me, that I was more important than his job. Wrong thoughts. He stayed, I broke the engagement off, stayed another half a year, went to Peru before I came here. We had been together for over two years, he was the reason why I came to Vegas, I waited for him for six years…maybe we would be still together if I hadn't left…we'll never know about that…but I couldn't stay there anymore…it wasn't good for me…and I've no idea why I tell you all these things."

Ryan smiled and took her hand. "When was the last time you talked to somebody about yourself? About personal things? Eye to eye and not only on the phone to your mother."

She never talked on the phone to her mother. If she saw her mother in…in the place she stayed in, they talked about anything but Sara's relationship.

"It's been a while." Since the day she got suspended and Grissom came over to have a look for her. A long while. Why did she never talk to Greg about it? Probably mostly because her relationship to Grissom was a secret.

"If you feel like talking to somebody you're always free to come around. I might seem to be a guy who makes a lot of jokes and doesn't take anybody or anything serious but I might surprise you by being exactly who you need. Plus I do have a couple of beers in my hut."

Sara chuckled. "Beer sounds good."

"Just to warn you, I flirt when I had a few beer."

"You flirt all the time."

"Most times. And only with people I like."

"In that case you must like a lot of people."

"I like my colleagues." He sipped on his coffee. "Are you happy here?"

"Most times." She paused, realizing she was back to very short answers when it came to personal questions. Without any reason. So she continued: "I don't really cope with the cold, it's very new for me and I think I'm more a person for warm areas. Experiencing these extreme cold weather is new, it's fascinating and scary at the same time. Besides work there isn't much to do, well, I'm busy with the dogs and the sled. A real challenge. How long did it take you to handle them?"

"A few weeks. You're not too bad."

"The head wound and the fact you carried me into my hut tell me different."

"Nah, you fell, we all fell at one point and the carrying…I had to show off a bit. Show you why I work out and that I have built up some muscles. I used you to make myself look strong, like Superman. Sorry for that."

"I forgive you. This time." She laughed. "Since when are you here?"

"Four years. I went here straight from college. I always knew I want to do something with animals, something that might make a difference one day. My parents think I wasted my talent, apparently I was a bright kid and teenager and could have make more out of my life than being here. I think I made exactly out of my life what I wanted.

This won't be the place where I'll stay until I die, there are a lot of other places I want to go. I want to be on a Greenpeace boat one day. Do something against the senseless killing of whales, make people aware of the fact fish in the ocean is limited and if you don't treat the ocean and the sea right they won't get you any fish anymore. There's a limit and we're about to get way past this limit." He stopped. "Do you think I'm fanatic?"

"I think you've got goals and we're willing to fight for them. Good goals that will make this planet a better planet."

"That's not a no."

"You're all right, Ryan." She took his hand. "In fact, you remind me a lot of my best friend in Las Vegas. Greg. I miss him."

"Did he flirt with you as well?"

"Yes." Sara laughed. "He even asked a colleague if she believed I'd go out with him."

"What did she say?"

"Only if he doesn't tell me it's a date. And yes, I went out with him a couple of times, as friends. Without him a lot of things would have been more complicated, a lot of joy had been missing."

"Sounds like you miss him a lot. But he wasn't the one you were engaged with?"

"No. Like I said, we were friends. He promised to come here and visit me soon."

"Here? Where's he supposed to sleep? As far as I know we don't have guest rooms around. The closest ones should be like half an hour by car – if the road is free which is unlikely this time of the year."

"There's a reason why I've got a king size bed."

"Lucky man….sorry, I wasn't supposed to flirt anymore."

"He knows how to behave, I don't have to worry. By then I want to be able to drive a dog sled without ending up with the head first in ice and snow."

"The dogs are patient."

"Lucky me."

"If you want I can give you another lesson tomorrow – if your head is all right."

"That would be great, thanks. I feel better…which could be the coffee or the fact I lie down. By tomorrow my head should be as good as new."

"I like the old one, keep it."

"All right."

"Tell you what: why don't you have a little sleep while I make some dinner and come over later? We can have dinner together, talk a little bit more and if your head is fine, I bring a beer with me."

"Are we on a date?" She cocked her head a bit.

"No, we are on a dinner appointment, like you have them with colleagues and friends sometimes."

"Deal. What time are you back?"

"Two hours?"

"Okay. That should be more than enough for a little sleep."

He rose. "See you later, my flying Las Vegas friend." Sending her a wide smile he went to put on his coat, glove, scarf and boat before he left her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 2**

"Sara, I've got a special job for you." Bruce stopped next to her desk. His smile told Sara, it wasn't something ordinary, no job she was supposed to do every day. It was early in the day, her shift had started half an hour ago.

"What's that?"

"A special delivery out to Evi."

"O-okay." She, out with the dogs? Alone? On a road that didn't exist? Going to a place she had never been before?

"Not on your own." He read her thoughts. "You need to know where to go. We do have GPS and everything but you're in an ice desert, not the best place to get lost. It's safer when you have somebody by your side who knows the way."

That sounded much better. Company for the first ride to Evi. All she knew about Evi's place was, it was somewhere north of their village, a three hours ride with the dog sled, not accessible with a car at the moment. It would take her all day to get there and back.

"Go and see Kevin, he prepared the sled and should be ready to leave any minute. Evi has some bags with soil for us, some blood from a polar bear that loses it's fur for no obvious reason and needs some help with repairing her scooter. You're good in fixing cars, lets see if you can be a mechanic for a scooter too."

"Okay." She got up. A day outside, her first day outside. Time to discover the area around. She hadn't really been around, only around the village, never further away than a mile.

Kevin was in the shed, putting some stuff on a big sled with twelve dogs in front. Next to that one was a smaller one with four.

"Good morning, how are you?" She greeted him.

"Very good. What about you? Excited?" He was in his early sixties, always remembered her of a grandfather. Not her grandfather, she never met him but she liked the idea, her grandfather had been like Kevin. She was sure, he spoiled his grandchildren when he saw them and told them exciting stories about his job, the animals and how it was to live in ice and snow.

"A little bit." She confessed.

"No reason to be. You take these four beauties, I take the dirty dozen. Are you dressed for a few hours out in the snow?"

"Yes." It took her ten minutes to walk to her work place every morning, ten minutes she dressed for like she spend the day outside; which she would do today. Of course it was quite an effort to put on all these clothes every time, when she didn't do it, usually she regretted it after a minute.

"All right then. The sled is packed, I've all the stuff for Evi, you have what we need."

Sara looked on a single backpack and a bag in her sled. They didn't need much. Seven hours, eight top and they were back. Not in time to make it back in daylight, they needed big torches for their return.

"Lets get ready to rumble." Kevin opened the door and ordered the dogs to pull the sled out. Excited like the knew it was time for a long trip, they made their way out, followed by Sara and her dogs. Time to set off into a new adventure, finally seeing what the place she lived in since three weeks, was really about.

Plus her first long distance trip with the sled. No roads, no even surface, full concentration all the time. She didn't want Kevin to turn because she fell on her head. After the last time she fell and Ryan carried her home, she had a headache for two days, got forced by her boss to see the doctor when she came in for work, who cleared her for light duty. No more stupid things like that.

Leaving the village behind they were on their way into the great wide tundra. All white. It was snowing, had snowed the whole night, Sara guessed they gained six inches of snow within the last twenty-four hours. How were they supposed to find their way back when it still snowed this afternoon? Even in daylight her eyes got to the GPS every minute to make sure she was on the right way, following Kevin and the big sled. The dogs seemed to be happy to be outside, without many instructions they ran like they knew their destiny. Probably they did. As far as Sara knew once a week somebody got out to see Evi, the dogs did this trip often enough to know where to go.

If she was supposed to go on this trip on her own any time soon? It was part of her job and there must be a reason why her boss sent her out with Kevin today. Maybe the next time she had to go to Evi alone. A thought of that scared her a bit when she thought about it. Would somebody find her here? It was like being under the car in the desert…only colder and with less chances to survive. She would never make it a couple of hours stuck under the sled here.

Pushing these thoughts and the memory of the night under the car away she concentrated on her way, tried to find remarkable things, help her remember where she was, where she came from and where to go to. All white. No trees, no special formed mountains, no stones or anything else. All she had was the GPS and when she lost it or broke it, she was caught in an endless white prison of ice and snow.

* * *

It took almost three hours before Sara saw something remarkable: smoke. Coming out of a hut. Half of the hut was buried under snow, only the last yard and the roof looked out of the snow. The dogs must have seen it too, it was like they ran faster now to get to their destination. Another hut appeared.

"Halt!" Kevin called out when they arrived at the two huts. They made it in slightly over three hours, having a little break in the middle of the trip. "Time for a break guys." He got off the sled and put the brakes in. "How do you feel, Sara?"

"Sore." Her back ached after all this time standing on the sled, getting shaken by the uneven surface.

"You'll get used to it. Come on, lets get inside and have a hot coffee."

"Hot coffee sounds like the best promise in the world." She followed Kevin to the bigger hut. He swiped a key card and the door opened. Sara found herself in a room with a few computer, screens that were connected to surveillance cameras and showed her the area around the huts and some other areas. Two screens showed her places at the sea. There was no activity on any screen, only the landscape.

In the corner was a coffee machine, Kevin stepped right to it and started it. "Are you hungry?"

"If it's hot I eat it. Whatever makes me feel warm again."

"How about some soup?"

Sara turned when she heard the voice of Evi. Wearing thermo pants and long sleeve, the short black hair of the woman matched her outfit. Dark eyes seemed to stay a second longer than they had to on Sara. "Hi, I'm Evi."

"Sara." Sara shook the offered hand.

"I've some soup on the oven, should be ready to eat in five minutes. Have a coffee first, then the soup and after that it's time to go back to work."

"At least you let us have some food first." Kevin joked. "Most times Evi hands us a coffee and forces us into doing the work first before we get anything to eat."

"Hey, you have the long way back home, not me. You want a meal first, some tea and biscuits after it, you have to get back in the middle of the night."

"We deserve half an hour for our personal refill before we feed the dogs and do some work. Sara is here for your scooter."

"You're a mechanic?" Evi's brown eyes studied Sara interested.

"No, not really. But I know a few things about cars, that's why Bruce sent me."

"Oh well, you can have a look at the scooter while Kev and me do the rest." Evi poured some coffee into three big mugs. "How is everybody?"

"Fine. Allen and Hugo flew to Vancouver yesterday, the bloody Canadians don't want to work with us. Some stupid politics reason."

"For politics reasons they usually stop worrying about the environment. What about the guys from Iceland?"

"They'll come in next week. We might send one to you to stay here, you'll be busy."

"No, thanks. I'm fine by myself."

"You won't when they start and the group from Norway comes in too."

"Both? Wow."

"Yes. We'll be very busy. Want me here with you?"

"Your wife will tell you otherwise when you come home and tell her, you want to stay here with me for a few days."

"She might be jealous…and then she'll laugh at me old fool. No, seriously Evi, I'm sure Bruce will send somebody over. These guys will make some work, will come over and take your attention away from what you're supposed to do."

"I'll cope. C'mon time for some soup, I made some nice English stew."

"I might pass on that when there's meat inside." Sara said.

"Plenty of meat. You don't meat at all or you also don't eat something that had been with meat in the same pot? Kev will be more than happy to eat your meat."

"The wife put me on a diet."

"She'll never know." Evi blinked at him. "And it's easy to pick out the meat."

"Okay." Sara knew sooner or later she had to make com-promises living in the nowhere. It wasn't like there were vegetarian restaurants around like in Vegas. And not a lot of fruits like in South America. She reckoned meat and fish were the first choices.


	4. Chapter 4

They needed two more hours before they were ready to leave. The scooter was fixed, they had a lot of things to work on stored onto the big sled and made it back to the village in under three hours. The last hour in darkness with torches showing them the way. The first time Sara had been out of the village during darkness. The whole time she had made sure her weapon was close by, if a polar bear surprised them, they didn't have much time to react. And being out in the darkness they were easy prey.

After the dogs were back in their shed, fed and their work was in the lab, Sara was happy to go home. A long day, a hard day. Her hands, legs and back hurt from all the hours on the sled, she felt tired and was ready to call it a day. Something quick to eat, the news on TV, maybe a part of a movie and her day was officially over.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan sat in front of her door.

"I figured you should be back any time soon and wanted to see how you are. How are you?"

"Tired."

"Hungry?"

"Why?"

"Why so suspicious, Sara?" He sent her a soft smile.

"Sorry. Wanna come in?"

"Only if you want me in."

"I need a shower first."

"Why don't you have your shower and I prepare something to eat? I've got vegetarian pizza. Home made."

"You made pizza yourself?"

"Yes. Extra cheese and if you like, we can drown it in garlic."

"We'll be stinky tomorrow."

"So?"

"So you've less than fifteen minutes for the pizza." She opened the door.

"I'll need a few more minutes, I prepared it but it's not baked. Take your time in the bathroom, I take care of the rest."

"Thanks." She dropped her coat, boots, scarf and gloves on the ground and went straight to the bathroom. Hot water! It should ease the pain.

Twenty minutes later she was back in her main room, dressed in sweat pants and a thin pullover. The whole room smelled like a mix of fresh pizza and garlic. Immediately her stomach made it obvious she was hungry.

"Pizza is almost done. Want some red wine?"

"Yes. Where did you get all these stuff from?"

"It was my day off and I drove down to the town, went shopping and bought enough for a month. And you're just the person I want to share my food and wine with."

"Really? How comes?"

"I like you…in a not flirty way."

Sara cocked her head like she wanted to say something but stayed quiet. Some things weren't her business.

"How was your trip to the sea?"

"Actually I didn't see the sea. We were busy working at the huts, there was no time for a little sightseeing. Which is a pity, I'd like to see the sea, maybe a few animals."

"There are plenty of seals and some polar bears. You should go there more often, maybe stay overnight."

"Kevin said something about Evi needs some help when the Canadian and Norwegians are here."

"Which she denied."

"Yes."

"Of course. She prefers to be on her own, that's why she lives out there. Alone. The only people she sees are us, when one of us gets over once a week. Or when we call her with the camera on."

"A nice quiet life."

"Too quiet for me. I need some people around, not many but nobody is…not my cup of tea. And just imagine something happens to you. It takes a while before help is there."

"Does she checks in with somebody regularly?"

"With Lorne. She calls her first thing in the morning, around noon and in the evening. Plus she's suppose to send a message in at ten in the evening to a computer. If this message doesn't arrive there'll be an alarm. Bruce nags her since ages to agree on a second person, she refuses."

"Maybe when you like the quiet and the experience of having the great nature for yourself you don't want to share. I mean, who can say their neighbors are seals and polar bears? I like that idea, reminds me of the rain forest…only we were twelve people."

"Exactly, you had people around…well, she's stubborn. Have a seat, pizza is ready to be served."

Sara opened the bottle of wine and poured some wine for them while Ryan served the pizza. Using a six pack of water gallons Sara put her feet up.

"Tell me why you want to have dinner with me. It's your day off, you could have stayed in town, enjoy a little bit of civilization and come back tomorrow morning."

"I enjoy time with you."

"Not with the others?"

"Most times I need to explain myself when I'm with the others. They ask a lot of questions, like why am I here, shouldn't I be somewhere with people my age, what about a girlfriend, am I not supposed to go out more and find somebody. You don't ask these questions and when you do, you ask them once and not every time we meet. You have no problems to leave my private life to myself, you accept when people don't want to spill their guts over and over again.

Last time I went to our pub." He laughed. The pub was the take away shop. On Fridays and Saturdays it turned into a pub and almost everybody was in there, having a few drinks and a chat. "I got told I built up a wall around me because I refused to answer some personal questions…they don't annoy you with personal questions, do they?"

"No. My wall is obvious with large signs, saying not to get too close to me and do not annoy me with stupid questions. If I think you deserve some personal information I tell you. The private person, who keeps people at a distance, a little bit cool, not very social but still friendly at work. You, on the other hand, are the friendly and talkative guy, people expect you to be open about everything."

"I like people, I like talking to them, that doesn't mean I've to tell everybody my life."

"No, you don't have to."

"Like you don't have to go on talking to me." He took their plates. "You're tired, Sara, go to bed. I leave you alone and see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Sorry. I guess that was too much for me. All those hours on the sled, my body isn't used to this."

"Don't worry. You get your not needed beauty sleep and we talk tomorrow."

"Wanna grab dinner together?"

"Sure." He was a little bit surprised and couldn't hide that.

"Why don't we…meet here? Can't offer you some meat but a nice vegetarian tortilla."

"Sounds good to me."

"Sleep tight." She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for coming around and making sure I'm all right."

"Every time again." He blushed a little bit. After all, he was a sensitive man and not the cool womanizer he sometimes pretended to be.

* * *

In the middle of the night Sara woke up. Vegas. She had dreamed of Las Vegas. The mob case. The last case she worked with Sofia before the blonde was shot. Why did she dream of this case? She thought she was over it. Maybe you could never overcome it when your colleague got shot. What do they call it? Survivor's guilt? Did she suffer from something like that? The picture of Sofia laying on the coroner's table had burnt itself into her head and was right in front of her eyes again. Could have Sara done anything? Anything to save the blonde? She hadn't been there when Sofia got shot. Was in the lab while the other woman walked out of the police department with FBI agents by her side and nevertheless she was killed by Moreno. Or one of his hitmen. All Sara could do was saying goodbye in hospital. Goodbye to a colleague, a friend. The detective found her in the desert, she owed her a lot and never had the chance to do something for her.

Why was she thinking of this now? She hadn't thought of that night since Peru, since that one night with the heavy rain, reminding her of the night under the car. It was the past, it wasn't a good thing to remember and she was better off pushing those thoughts aside.

To the present. To something positive. Her first long trip on a dog sled. Her whole body hurt, she had sore muscles and would have problems to walk around normally tomorrow but she did it. Made the distance, didn't fall and repaired the scooter. Now Evi could get faster to wherever she had to go to.

An amazing woman, the British dark haired woman. Living alone between polar bears, always at risk being the target of hunter who were after the seals and polar bears. A dangerous life and nevertheless she didn't want anybody else around. Was fine by herself. A little bit like Sara had been. If anybody had offered her a job ten years ago, away from other people, living a life on her own, she had taken the chance. Now she had changed, mostly Vegas changed her and her life, she wanted some people around. She wasn't the social type who had to be surrounded be people all the time, went out a lot and used her home only to sleep. But she appreciated a good conversation and good company.

Like Ryan. He was one of a kind and she really liked him. Since he stopped calling her Vegas and didn't try too hard to be cool and flirt with her all the time they got along very good. To nobody else here she was this close. Ryan was definitely somebody she wanted to stay in contact with when she left here. Not that she had any intentions of leaving any time soon. They would have some more time together, have fun together.

Like she did with Greg. It got closer to Christmas, she knew he wouldn't have the time to come up here for Christmas or New Years Eve, but maybe any time soon. In his last email he told her, he was curious about her new job, her new home and if she was able to build an igloo. She wasn't. It was a skill she was interested in after she felt save and confident on the dog sled. Kevin told her today, he had built a few times an igloo when he was out and was surprised by bad weather. He would teach her how to build one. So many new things, she never thought of in Las Vegas.

It was a cold place here, made her life sometimes hard but it was good for her. Much better than Las Vegas or San Francisco.

If Grissom was fine? They hadn't been in contact for…a few months. First it was hard not to have him around, not talk to him, being on her own. The time with him…he meant a lot to her, still did. To a degree she could understand him, could understand why he stayed. Basically it were the same reason why she left. She couldn't be happy anymore in Las Vegas, being a CSI and he couldn't be happy being somewhere else, not working as a CSI.

Some things just weren't meant to be.

Sometimes life had surprises for you, all you had to do was waiting for them and make the best out of it.

Could Alaska be her surprise?


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 3**

"Hi Evi, it's Sara…again…Bruce worries about you. I've no idea what you're doing, where you are but when you don't give us a call back he'll send somebody out to see you within the next hour and…"

"I'm here." No video, only Evi's voice. "What' up?"

"Apparently you forgot to call in."

"Bugger…yes…sorry. I was out and…we've a new polar bear, at least I think we do. He doesn't look like the ones I've seen here before."

"How do you know it's a he?" Sara asked amazed.

"Because he's really big. Even compared to other male bears. Must have come over this night."

"What are you doing now?"

"Well, I'll get my gun, give him a good dose of tranquilizer, hope it will make him sleep for a few minutes and give him his identification number."

"All by yourself?"

"I don't think Bruce will send somebody over. I don't do this for the first time."

"What if he wakes up before you're done?" These bears weight up to seven hundred kilogram, they needed a high dose of tranquilizer to fall asleep and when they woke up before they were supposed to wake up, it could get nasty. You don't wrestle them down, all they needed was one punch and you were out. Forever.

"I need to run – fast and far."

"Sounds very dangerous to me."

"I'll cope. I don't wanna wait until one of you guys comes around, he might have left until then."

"You're after him now?"

"Just looking for the gun and right amount of tranquilizer."

"How long will it take?"

"I need to find him…so I've no idea how long it takes. We'll see. If I don't give you guys a call at six, don't worry I might be out then."

"Uhm…"

"That's fine. I need to go, talk to you later…Sara."

"Stay safe."

"Always."

Sara shook her head. This woman was about to hunt a polar bear, an apparently very big one, all by herself and…she wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Unsure what to do, she looked around. The lab was empty, she was the only one inside today. Liam had a day off, Rene and Marie were out, working with the outside people. The groups from Norway and Iceland were supposed to come in tomorrow, there were a lot of things to do.

Her eyes stopped on the muffins Marie left her in the morning. After another thought she took the muffin and walked towards Bruce's office. Like she had nothing else in mind than bringing him a muffin she knocked on his door and stepped in.

"Care for a sugar boost?"

Bruce looked up. "Absolutely. Thanks."

She handed him the muffin. "I got hold of Evi."

"Good. Everything fine with her?"

"Yes, she forgot us because she was out. Apparently there's a new polar bear, a male, very big, she sounded very impressed."

"Don't tell she wants to go after it."

"All right I won't tell you."

Bruce sighed and buried his face in his hands. "She's not supposed to do that alone. Especially not when it's a big male. Bugger. I bet she turned her radio off…and I don't have somebody to send over…what else did she say?"

"She needs it find it, might not call in before ten."

"She won't call in until ten because she knows she's in trouble….fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Stubborn bitch. I kick her arse for that. A tiny mistake, not enough of the tranquilizer and the bear will rip her apart…she isn't a vet, god damn it."

"Shall I get over and have a look if she's all right`"

He looked up. Probably he was as surprised as Sara was. She had been there once, was new, not very experienced on the sled.

"I don't want two of my people at risk."

"I'll be fine. I've been over, take a GPS with me and come back tomorrow morning so you don't have to worry about me getting back in the middle of the night."

Balancing the up and down of the offer he took a bite of his muffin. With Sara over he had somebody to get help if needed. With her out there alone he had his newest and less experienced person out, who might needed some help herself. Which risk was bigger? Sara on the sled or Evi on the hunt?

"You think you can manage the sled?"

"I practiced the last weeks daily, I can handle the sled."

"Twelve dogs?" Usually she had eight dogs in front of the sled.

"Is there any difference to the eight?"

"You'll be faster."

"Sounds good to me."

Thinking about everything again he closed his eyes before he nodded. "Go home, pack your things, I prepare the sled."

"Okay."

"Oh, Sara?" He stopped her before she left.

"Yeah?"

"Pack for a couple of nights. I know Evi said she doesn't want anybody around, I think she lost her privilege of making the choice who and if somebody is with her. You stay with her for the next couple of days, as long as the groups are in. If she doesn't agree she can call me. Which she won't do because she knows the trouble she'll be in."

"I don't want to make her mad…"

"You don't. I do. Pack your things, that's an order!"

"Yes, Sir!" Oh dear, was this a smart thing to do? Why did she offer to go there?

* * *

There was a difference between eight and twelve dogs in front of the sled. At least for Sara there was. With her bag on the sled, the GPS in one hand and guiding the dogs with her other hand she flew through over the snow. Her legs were sore and her hand felt like it was about to fall off after over two hours. Her GPS told her she wasn't far away from Evi's hut. If she wasn't absolutely wrong.

Relieved when she saw the two huts she allowed herself to relax a little bit. She made it. In under three hours and more important, alive without any incidents. How did Greg once say? The student became a master. This was her masterpiece. Ryan would be proud of her; or mad that she tried it without any backup. Sometimes there was a thin line between being proud and mad.

After she gave each dog a treat for their good run she had a look for Evi. Both huts were locked, there was no note. So the British woman had to be out, looking for the new bear. With her radio she called her boss, assured him she was fine and would have a look for Evi now. On foot because her dogs deserved a break.

Where to start? Where could a polar bear be? Well, they were big, they had to be hungry often. Polar bear ate seal, seals were at the water, meant, she had to go to the water. Making sure her weapon was with her she left the dogs and a note at the hut that she was here and looked for Evi down at the…it wasn't a beach, it was…the waterfront.

There should be another hour with sunshine before it started to get dark, half an hour for one way, then she had to turn and get back. Evi wouldn't be out, chasing a polar bear in the dark, would she? Somebody who got after a seven hundred or more kilogram heavy bear might not be that sensible. Her boss didn't act like she was. He had been angry and worried. More worried than angry. At least at the moment, that changed probably as soon as Evi called in and it was obvious, she was fine.

Around two hundred yards away was the sea, she saw gray water and a few little flooding ice sheets. No polar bear was on them, only two or three little dark dots. Seals? Must be. She hadn't seen any around because beside this one trip to here she had been in and around the village the whole time. If they were playing? Could she take a minute or two to watch them? Certainly. For a moment she wondered if polar bear would eat penguins if they lived at the same place. Probably. A polar bear was a predator, it didn't care which meat ended up in front of its paws. Including human. Another reason to look out for them, no matter if big or small. Everything beside a new born baby could be dangerous for her and even the babies were a risk. When there was a baby, a mother wasn't far and most times they didn't like human around their offspring. For a good reason. There were too many people who killed whatever they got in front of their weapons.

Amazed she stopped for a moment at the cliff. A few more steps and there was nothing than water – and a ten yards fall. It was much safer to stay a few steps away from the edge. Being a San Francisco woman she liked water but she preferred a few more degrees. Inside and outside the water.

Over there! There were seals! A lot of seals. Carefully she slipped down a little hill and walked towards the seals. Keep your distance, these are wild animals, they're not used to human around, they might think she was threat and attack her. She had no idea how fast seals were but this was their area, they knew how to move best on the slippery surface. It was unlikely she'd win this race.

Stopping at the edge she had a look down. Two yards, that wasn't too bad. Only ten yards away was the place where seals jumped out of the water onto the ice. A good place to have a little rest and take a photo. Her, eye in eye with the seals. Greg would like this story. The sun gave the picture a nice color, it looked almost like it was used for a calendar. Zooming the seals closer she got some really good shots of a few seals playing, one laying on its back, asleep or very relaxed, one mother with her offspring jumping from an edge a yard above sea level into the water. This was a real experience.

Laying on her belly she tried a different angle. Her eyes were now on the same level like the eyes of a seal twenty yards away from her. With her zoom she got the big mammal closer. His dark eyes seemed to look straight at her. Great. Wonderful. What a picture. Now it got up, his eyes still on her…it slipped away into the water. Damn it. Where was it…suddenly she had the feeling somebody was behind her. Before she could turn she heard a voice calling out her name.

"Sara! Watch out!"

When she turned she saw something huge and white. Two dark dots looking at her, a paw that was risen and about to crash down on her. A polar bear. How could that have happened? How could this big animal could have sneaked up on her? There was no time to grab her weapon, the only thing Sara could do was roll over. Over the edge. Into the water. Feeling the air of her fall or was it the paw that slightly hit her, she felt how the world got cold and dark at the same time.


	6. Chapter 6

Cold. So cold. And pain. What happened to her? Where was she? Why did she feel so strange? Was she dead? Did the polar bear kill her? Did you feel pain when you were dead? Was it cold?

"Sara?"

Yes, that was her name. Did God call her? Was there a God? And if so did she/he use the name her parents gave her? Was the name you were given when you were born something like your destiny? Like a commitment?

"Sara, wake up."

When she was told to wake up she couldn't be dead could she? Who told her to wake up? And why? What was wrong with being asleep? It wasn't like she slept a great deal of the day, most times she didn't sleep enough. Why not leave her alone and give her some rest?

"Come on, I know you can hear me, wake up. Screw it, I got you out of this bloody water in time, you can't die. Come on, you will not die under my hands! You hear me? You won't die! I kick you in the ass if you dare to die! Open your damn eyes! I can't call for backup and send a helicopter to safe you."

"Sofia?" Where the hell came the blonde from? Why was she in her dreams? Again. Didn't she just think of the former detective a couple of days ago? And now she followed her in her dreams? Her death? Whatever state she was in now.

"Evi."

Evi? Who was Evi?

"Come on, open your eyes. You talked to me, you're alive, you can open your eyes."

Slowly Sara opened her eyes. Short dark hair, dark brown eyes…who was this? Why was this person in her…no, wait a moment, this wasn't her place. This was…she had never been here. Where the hell was she? Why was it so cold and why did somebody seemed to hit her on the head with a sledgehammer?

"That's better. Welcome back."

Welcome back to where? Where had she been that she was back? Where was back? Who was Evi? What happened to Sofia? Did she really dream she heard the voice of the blonde? Of course she did, Sofia was dead. Maybe she fell on her head.

"Where am I?"

"In my hut."

"Why?"

"Because you decided to take a bath. Did nobody tell you swimming isn't one of the suggested activities for this area? You mistook Alaska beach with Aloha beach. Maybe you noticed the difference when you jumped into the water." Despite the tease Evi put into her words there was a lot of relief too. Relief that Sara woke up and could speak.

"Why would I do that?"

"There was this huge polar bear behind you, ready to kill you. The only way to save your life was rolling into the water. Lucky for you the bear didn't follow you. Might be because I shot a tranquilizer into his arse and he preferred to run away with it. Now I've to find him again."

"Sorry…" Sara blinked. Her head was…pain on her shoulders. The world was slightly blurry. Something wasn't right.

"You have a head injury." Evi explained like she read Sara's thoughts. "He got your forehead a bit, only a scratch but with the force and the power he has it got you a concussion. And a nasty wound from his craws. I tried the best to fix it so you won't have a scar. Not that a scar would take any of your beauty."

"You talk…bullshit…I got killed?"

"No, injured. Why don't you close your eyes again? Now that I know you're alive and can talk you can have a little rest."

"I need to call…"

"Whom? Bruce? Only if you want to get in real trouble. No, no you don't want to call Bruce. I called him, told him you got me and we'll have a look for the bear together because I didn't chased him alone, I was out at the seal colony. Where you found me."

"I did ?"

"Of course. Unless you want us both in trouble."

"No…"

"Good. Have a rest, sleep a little bit, you're safe here. And I'll make sure you're warm so there won't be a cold or worse. Hopefully. Can't promise anything after you took a bath in the sea."

"I…why aren't you Sofia?"

"Because I'm Evi."

Sounded like a reasonable answer and still, something confused Sara. The whole time she heard the British woman she heard Sofia. Like she saw the former detective. Why did she think of the blonde now? What was the connection? Was it the injury? Maybe the area of her memory in her brain got confused. Or her whole head. Something had to be wrong. Seriously wrong.

Whatever it was, it had to wait until later. Her eyes were blurry, her eye lids heavy and she felt like the weight of the world was on top of her. Time for some time out. Time to rest and have a little sleep. Maybe she felt better afterwards. Maybe life made more sense after a sleep. Or confused her less and was less painful.

* * *

"You snore!"

Sara opened her eyes. Who talked to her? Who lied to her? She didn't snore, she never snored. She…ouch, her head. And her throat. And her back. And the arms. And the legs. And the…okay, it was easier and faster to mention the parts of her body that didn't hurt like hell… she just couldn't find on. Great. The prize you pay when you got old. Suddenly you wake up and realize, your body was a disaster.

"Shit."

"You feel like shit?"

"Yeah…where am I?" Sara looked at the other woman.

"My hut." Evi sat down next to her. "Open your mouth, I want to know if you have a high temperature." Before Sara could protest she had a clinical thermometer in her mouth.

"What the…"

"Uh-uh! Shut up, keep it under your tongue until you hear the beep. No discussion. I want to know how you are and I want your body to tell me. You might need some hot saline."

Sara watched how Evi put another blanket on top her the three blankets she was covered with. It was cold in here, at least she felt like it. Could it be? Shouldn't be. There was a fire, Evi walked around in sweatpants and a shirt. Something of the way she walked reminded her of… Las Vegas? Black. She wore black clothes…wasn't there something shiny on her waist? No, of course not. There was nothing shiny about sweat pants. Strange. Her eyes must play her a trick.

"Thirty five point five. You can use some hot saline." Eve took the clinical thermometer away.

"What? Thirty five…that's…"

"Sorry, I meant Celsius. Ninety five degrees for you. The best is you stay in there, we keep you warm from the inside and the outside. As far as I could see you don't have any frostbites. You look okay so far, how do you feel? Beside the cold thing?"

"Strange. I've got headache."

"He got you, like I said, you're injured. I'm sorry I didn't see you and him sooner, could have warned you."

"No, it was my fault, I was too busy watching the seals…oh, I think I lost my camera."

"Maybe it's still out there, I can have a look tomorrow."

"How did I…can you tell me what happened?"

"Well." Evi handed Sara a big mug of vegetable stock. "Sorry, it's best I can do at the moment. For anything else we've to call the doc…and I've the feeling you don't want that."

"No."

"Thought so." The black haired woman sat on the edge of the bed. "You must have been busy taking photos, I saw your note on the door, was on my way to find you when I saw the polar bear right behind you, called your name. You turned, managed to roll yourself aside so his paw couldn't get you. Unfortunately the way out of his way was over the edge, you fell down into the water. Not the best idea when it's freezing cold – inside and outside the water. I shot tranquilizer, the bear got away, lucky for both of us he felt more like running than attacking, I got to you and managed to pull you out of the water. You lost conscious as soon as you were out of the water, with was also good because if you had lost it earlier, you might have drowned. I pulled you here, got you out of your clothes, turned the electric blanket on high, placed all the blankets I found on top of you and checked on your pulse, cleaned the head wound and tried to wake you up."

"You had a toothpick in your mouth." And it reminded her so much of somebody else. Evi reminded her of Sofia. Yes, that was it. She knew the whole time something was weird about the British woman, something was very familiar, reminded her of Vegas. The way Evi had the toothpick in her mouth, it was exactly the way Sofia had it.

Evi blushed a little bit. "Bad habit. Sometimes I do that, stops me from smoking."

The toothpick, the way she walked. The swagger. It was there, hidden, almost not visible. Like the American accent that sometimes was there, pushed the British accent aside. Not much. A word, not more than two. There couldn't be so many coincidences.

But Sofia was dead, wasn't she? Sara had been at the funeral. Why would Sofia fake her own death? Why would she end up here? Tell Sara she was somebody else? There had to be another explanation. Still…she had to give it another try. Just because she felt like there was something, like she was right – against all odds.

"You don't smoke anymore, stopped after college."

"Yeah sometimes…" Evi stopped and looked like she said something she shouldn't have said. "Why do you think I smoked in college?"

"Because you admitted to it, you always used the toothpick when you felt like a smoke or wanted to remind somebody who smokes of a cigarette so you get him or her faster to talk. It's a habit you picked up years ago. Sofia." The other woman just admitted to the fact she smoked in college. Something Sofia told Sara a few years ago. A habit she quitted and the reason for the toothpick.

"You must have hit your head harder than I thought. I'm Evi."

It sounded almost desperate. Sara was right. She felt it, she knew it. No matter how unreal it sounded, how impossible it was, this woman wasn't the one she pretended to be. And there were more details that supported Sara's assumption.

"You wanted to kick my ass if I dare to die under your hands. My ass, not my arse. Plus there was no British accent in your voice when you said that, believing I can't hear you. When you walk there is the unique Curtis swagger which made me see something shiny on your waist, the detective badge. You're either a twin sister of Sofia – who doesn't have any siblings – or you are Sofia. Which leads me to the question: what are you doing here when I saw you with my own eyes on the table of the medical examiner? Two bullet holes in your chest." Sara sat up, her eyes on the other woman, who turned very, very pale.

"Due to the fall you might see things that aren't…"

"Stop it, I can see, maybe a little bit blurry sometimes but I know what I see…and what I feel. It felt the whole time like I've known you for a long time, you seemed to be so…familiar. Plus the last time my life was at risk you were there too. You saved me already twice. You can tell the others whatever you want, tell them you're Evangeline from England, put on a British accent, I don't care. Your grandmother was from England, wasn't she?" That explained the accent. All it needed was a lot of time with your grandmother and you pick her accent. Easy to pick it up again years later when you practice it for a while. Maybe surround yourself with native British English speaker.

"My whole family is from England."

"Your father is from Vegas. Maybe you cut your hair and dyed it…you dyed it in Vegas too, I like the long blonde more, by the way. As it comes to your eyes…you wear contact lenses. Hide the deep blue behind dark brown lenses. Why Sofia? Why did you let everybody think you died? Why? I was at your funeral…have you been in the casket or was it empty?" She remembered the day like it was yesterday. Remembered the pain.

"You should rest and sleep, Sara."

"No! No, I won't. I want answers. Stop acting like I hit my head, like I'm crazy or whatever. I know what I know, what I saw, what I feel. Why Sofia? Why did you do all this? Why do you pretend to be somebody you aren't? It has something to do with the last case you worked, hasn't it? It weren't drug dealer who shot you, it had something to do with the mob, hadn't it?" Sara was about to get up to pace around. Softly she got pulled back into the bed.

"Stay in there, you have to stay warm. And drink your vegetable stock. Please. Even when you feel good now, you might not be all right. I don't want to risk anything." The British accent was gone, the hand stay gently on Sara's arm, stroke it, made its way down until the hand of the other woman held Sara's.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you in a witness protection program?" It was the only explanation that made sense to Sara. A faked funeral, a faked death, a new name, a new life.

"I was." Sofia gave up. She had tried to make Sara believe in Evi, tried to talk her into leaving the thought of Sofia alone, accepting the blonde detective from Las Vegas was dead. It didn't work out. The brunette was convinced she was Sofia and not Evangeline from England. She didn't believe the lies Sofia built up so carefully, tried to keep up all the time.

"And now?`"

"Now I'm…I'm Evi."

"Who knows Evi is Sofia?"

"You." It felt strange to admit to the truth. Sofia sighed. She had tried to keep her new life the only life, hoped Sara hadn't recognized her, tried to act so hard not like herself…too hard?

"Your parents…?"

"Think I'm dead. The FBI got me into witness protection, I cooperated with them, got my new ID and a new life. Four months later they found a body burnt beyond recognition in a car that was registered to my new ID. I died for them as well. You're the only one…who knows Sofia Curtis does still exist."

"We keep it this way." Sara pulled Sofia into her arms. "You've no idea how happy I am you're alive. It's so good to see you."

"Thanks. Especially for keeping it to yourself."

"Of course. I like your accent, very convincing."

"Like you said, my grandmother was from England, I spent most of my childhood and teenager time with her, it's not difficult to speak in British English, using the Queen's English. Only when your former and now again colleagues makes the decision to have a swim in ice cold water and you have to check if she's really alive, pretending to be somebody else isn't that important anymore."

"I'm fine. I think. Got a headache."

"Why don't I give you some pain killer and some more tea? Are you hungry?"

"I should be, I haven't eaten all day."

"A sandwich? Vegetarian with a lot of salad? Egg, cheese?"

"Sounds great."

"Good. You stay in bed and I fix dinner…and send a message over that everything is fine. We don't want them to know what happened, do we?"

"No." Sara smiled.

"Thought so. And am I right you'll stay here longer anyway? I saw your bag."

"Bruce wants me to stay as long as the groups are in. As a punishment for you to go after the bear. Sorry for that."

"It's all right."

"I thought you don't want anybody here."

"You know the truth, there's no point in sending you away, I can relax with you around, don't have to make sure I'm Evi. When Sofia comes through you know it, I don't have to explain myself."

"Am I supposed to call you Evi when we're alone?"

"Can you switch to Evi when somebody is around or will it confuse you?"

"Hey, I pretended for years Grissom and me are nothing more than colleagues."

"Yeah…" There were some questions on Sofia's mind about Sara and Grissom, if they were still together or if her being here meant, they broke up. Questions, she might ask some other time, today wasn't a day for them. "The first case after you got sent to another shift got me killed. You know, I remembered a few times your words when we were in the car to see Moreno the first time. You told me you have a bad feeling about the case. I never thought you could be so right."

"Sometimes we've to rely on our feelings. Like when they tell you, the British lady is a smug Vegas cop in reality. Okay, I saw a blonde with long hair and blue eyes…was a little bit wrong there."

"No, not at all." Sofia grabbed her short hair and pulled it off. Long blond hair appeared and fell softly over her shoulders.

"Wow." Now Sofia looked like Sofia. At least from where Sara was.

"I like my long blond hair and there was no way I could cut it. The wig is the solution for the day, in the evening when I'm all alone in my hut I can have my blonde hair."

"And your blue eyes?"

"Yes. Want to see them?"

"Of course. Sofia Curtis isn't complete without her deep blue eyes."

"I didn't know you like my eyes so much." Sofia grinned. "Give me a second, I just finish our sandwiches."

"Shall I…"

"You stay where you are."

"Okay."

"There's a reason why I packed everything I have on you, you need warmth. Finish your vegetable stock so I can give you some more. It's good for you, like chicken soup only easier to make."

"All right, mum."

"Don't make fun of the British English."

"Bruce calls you a Pome."

"I know. Means I'm good, everybody believes Evi is real." Sofia put a plate with two sandwiches in front of Sara, vanished for a moment in another room and came back. With blue eyes. "Better?"

"Much better." Sara smiled. "The real Sofia."

"Did you miss the real Sofia?"

"No, we were all glad when you were dead."

"Sure."

"Did you watch your own funeral?"

"No. When you buried the empty casket I was in Florida. It wasn't safe to be around, I'm sure some of Moreno's people were around. Plus I couldn't bear to see my parents and friends cry. It's not like I made the decision easy. I had preferred to stay "alive" and keep everything how it was. The problem was, the FBI and I were sure, the mob would continue to send their hitman to kill me until they succeeded and sooner or later they would have. It was the only way to stay alive.

There's no day I wish I could fly to Vegas, see my parents, tell them I'm fine and they don't have to grief for me anymore."

"I think so." Sara took Sofia's hand. "I left soon after your …the funeral…but I know from Greg they still think of you, miss you. You're not forgotten."

"Makes it not easier to stay. I wonder every day if I should risk and go back, we have most of them in prison. Then again, it's a big family, some are still free and wouldn't hesitate to get somebody after me. I'm better off here."

"How did you end up here?"

"I thought of a place nobody would look for me. Alaska. After I got my really good copy of a British passport, I got an also very good fake of a CV which qualified me for this job. I used my lab skills and was sure, it was the safest place on earth…and then your voice suddenly appeared and I thought, my life is at risk."

"Do you really believed I'd tell anybody about you?"

"Well, if we had met with somebody around, like with Kevin the other day, and you realized it's Sofia and not Evi, it could have ended badly. Blew my whole cover."

"Even if I had been sure at that time you're not Evi, I had asked you in private why you pretend to be somebody else."

"It was a risk. Still is."

"Do you really think I tell somebody who you are? Who Evi really is?" Sara looked straight into Sofia's eyes.

"No."

"Good. Because I won't. I promise."

"My life is in your hands, Sara. As much as I want to trust you, believe you, I don't feel comfortable."

"I understand that. At the moment I've no idea how to make you trust, believe me. The only thing I can think of is that I can prove it to you the next weeks…months…you won't just vanish, will you? Get a new passport and start a new life somewhere. You did it once, made the FBI believe you're dead. You can do the same with me."

"No. You know I'm alive."

"So did they."

"I'm tired of running away. No more faked deaths. You promise you keep my secret, I trust you. If for whatever reasons somebody finds out the truth I can run…again. Hopefully it will never happen."

"No, you stay and we work together – again. Which takes me to my next question: where am I supposed to sleep? Bruce sent me over, there must be some place to stay."

"You stay exactly where you are. There is a sofa in the other hut, that can be used as a bed. It's not an option now, it's too cold and you have to stay as warm as possible. Right now you might feel good, it can change. You've been in freezing cold water for one or two minutes."

"It's your bed."

"For tonight it's yours."

"You can't sleep in the cold place either."

"It won't kill me. Or I stay in here."

"Where?" Sara had a look around. There were four chairs, a table, no armchair, no sofa. "Don't tell me you wanna sleep sitting on a chair."

"I slept on worse places."

"If you want me to stay here, you will sleep in your bed too. It's a king size bed, there's enough space for both of us and I won't let you sleep on the floor or a chair. Otherwise I will get up and sleep in the other hut. Or in the sled if I have to."

"Still stubborn, still up for a fight. Some things never change." Sofia smiled softly.

"Well Miss Curtis, nobody said it would be easy."

"No. Nothing is easy."

Sara cocked her head. "Do you have any movies on your laptop?"

"Yes, why?"

"Get your laptop, get something to drink and we'll have an easy movie night. Or do you have work left to do?"

"No. All I…or we have to do is send the mail at ten. Do you want to do that?"

"Sure, I can tell them Evi and me are fine, we go along and had a good time together so far. Are we going to chase a big white polar bear tomorrow?"

"Yes we are." Sofia grinned. Together they shouldn't have any problems to get the bear. If Sara was all right. If there were any signs she might have problems, Sofia wouldn't hesitate and get her to a doctor ASAP.

* * *

"This is so weird." Sofia closed the bathroom door behind herself. Not only did she have a visitor, no, this person knew about her, knew who she really was. Knew her before her new passport made her to somebody else. No, this person was in her bed.

"What?"

"All of this. You in my bed, you knowing who Evi really is, we meeting here, working the same job. Don't you think it's weird? Very strange?"

Sara thought about it for a few seconds, giving Sofia time to get into the bed. "Yeah, it is. In a good way. Nice coin-cidences." She pulled Sofia in her arms. "I said it already and I'll say it again: I'm really happy you're alive, Sofia. Really, really happy."

"Thanks. So am I. How do you feel?"

"All right. Warm actually after you made me drink all these hot drinks, forced me into staying under all these blankets."

"Good. I forgot to check your temperature but you feel normal. Anyway, I'll check it tomorrow morning to make sure, you're really okay."

"Oh come on."

"I won't argue on that one, Sara."

For a second Sara was about to tease Sofia, if she didn't leave her alone she'd call her by her real name when they were with somebody else. A stupid idea. This wasn't a topic to tease, for Sofia it was something that could make the difference between being alive and killed.

"No arguing, deal. But if my temperature is normal we go out and have a look for the bear together?"

"Yes."

"And you show me everything I need to know about the work here?"

"Not everything, we start with one part and continue the day after tomorrow. You stay here a few days, no need to rush."

"Would you like me to stay here more often?"

"Lets take it this way: if Bruce really insists on me having somebody over all the time, it would be you."

"If our boss doesn't force you, you don't want to have me over."

"On one side it's nice having somebody here, on the other side…the last years close contact to somebody meant, I'm at risk to blow my cover. You already blew it, insisting Evi is Sofia, seeing the little mistakes I make. Means there are already one hundred percent more people who know about me than I wanted them to know.

Sooner or later he will send somebody here…how long will you stay?"

"I've a contract for six months."

"He likes you, he'll let you stay longer."

"Maybe."

"Would you agree?"

"I found out I'm not the biggest fan of the cold weather. Then again I've nowhere else to go, I don't want to be a CSI…at the moment? Anymore? At all? Don't know."

"Do you like what you're doing now?"

"Yes. If I don't fall into the water I enjoy my time here. Or fall on my head."

"You fell on your head?"

"Yeah, while I practiced to drive a sled."

"Ouch."

"It was painful, Ryan carried me into my hut, he was really carrying."

"He's a cutie. And he likes you."

"I like him too."

"Is there something I should know?" Sofia grinned.

"Like the fact you have something between your teeth, Evi?" The brunette shot back amused.

"I do?"

"Maybe."

"If you make me get up, walk to the bathroom and get cold feet for nothing…I'll warm my cold feet on your legs, Sara Sidle. Think of your answer: do I have something between my teeth?"

"No."

"Good. So, you and Ryan? Isn't he a little bit too young for you?"

"He's just a friend."

"Who caries you home."

"So did you."

"It's more like I pulled you home."

"You saved my life: again."

"The detective takes care of her CSI."

"You're not a detective and I'm not a CSI anymore." Sara smiled and put her head on Sofia's shoulder. "Which isn't that bad anymore because now I can work with you again. I missed our time together, the cases…I should shut up, it's not like you had a choice and you surely miss it more than I do because you had no choice. Sorry to get the past back in your mind."

"It's on my mind anyway. And it's nice to hear you enjoyed our time…after a few years."

"Oh come on…I know I was bad at the beginning but after that…I got better and we worked a lot of cases together."

"It was a good time and if I'd be still a detective I missed you. So we should be happy we're both here and can work together."

"Yeah…Greg will come here to see me at some point in the future…I better not get him here."

"No." Sofia sighed. "It's too dangerous. I'd really like to see him but…no, I can't do it. It's like letting my parents know I'm fine. I thought of asking you to pass them a note when you go to Vegas the next time. Or anywhere else. The risk the note gets traced back to me is too big. Sofia Curtis has to stay dead."

"Most times."

"She can be alive for you when we're here alone, the rest of the time and for everybody else she has to be dead. And Evangeline will never go anywhere near Las Vegas. She'll stay here or go back to England."

"Stay here, I'd like to spend some time with her alter ego and I don't know if I can work in England."

"You're a good CSI, you can work there. Or let this organization send you there."

"Maybe…when I have enough of the cold…we could go to Australia and save some whales…"

"We?" Sofia laughed. What made Sara think she wanted to go somewhere with her?

"Yes, we. I can help to keep your cover up."

"Why don't we stay here for a while and see what happens then. Maybe you don't wanna spend time with me anymore after your six months."

"Could be…although I can't imagine it…I'm way too happy to have you back. Which is a little shock for myself. I didn't realize I missed you that much…missed a smug and arrogant bitch…ouch…"

"You have to learn when to stop so your compliments stay compliments and don't become nasty. Nasty comments end up in pain too often."

"The truth hurts sometimes."

"You better sleep now."

"I should. It's late and we've to get up early, let them know we're okay." Sara yawned. "Sleep tight."

"You too. If there's anything unusual, anything that points out you might have some problems due to the fall and the water, wake me up, okay?"

"Okay."


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 4**

When Sofia woke up the next morning she found herself in Sara's arms. The brunette held on to her, tightly. Carefully she tried to get up, the grip only tightened.

"If you dare to vanish into the nowhere I'll hunt you down and kill you."

Sofia fell back into the sheets and laughed. "I didn't plan to run, I wanted to take a shower. Time to rise and shine."

"Is there a window you can escape through?"

"Yes there is. Why would I do that? I could have left last night while you were asleep."

"You couldn't. I waited until you slept and got you into my arms, made very sure, you can leave without waking me up."

"Trust me a little bit more, Sara." Sofia smiled. She couldn't see Sara, it was too dark in the room. "How do you feel?"

"Like I never had a bath in Alaska."

"Good. Why don't you stay a few more minutes in bed until I'm done, then you take your shower, I prepare some breakfast and we discuss what we want to do today. And how we do these things."

"Deal." Sara snuggled into the sheets. She didn't feel like getting up at all. This bed was really comfortable, warm and…she shared a bed with Sofia. With Sofia who has been dead – at least to Sara's knowledge – twenty four hours ago. So much had changed within the last hours, changed to better. Sofia was alive. Had a new name, a new life. Evi. Never call her Sofia out of these four walls or when somebody else was around. She was Evi from now on. Sofia Curtis exists only in memories. God, it must be hard for the blonde to keep her cover, to know how much her own parents suffer. They had a good relationship, were close, and she wasn't allowed to tell them, she was alive. Sara had no idea if she could do this. Well, it wasn't difficult not tell her mother where she was, but…Greg? No more contact with Greg for the rest of her life? Not seeing him here was difficult enough, not talking to him on the phone or on the internet seemed to be impossible.

Probably this was the only way to make sure she could live a life, not her life, without fearing somebody might shoot her. She helped to get one of the most dangerous mob gangster into prison, there were a lot of people very angry with her. Seriously deadly mad. And now Sara was the biggest risk for the blonde. One wrong word and people could start becoming suspicious, could ask questions, could blow the cover. It was really very important to call the blonde Evi. Evi. Evi. Evi with short black hair and brown eyes. Evi from England.

She liked the blond long hair blue eyed Sofia much more!

"Who is on your mind?"

"Evi."

"Really? How comes?"

"I think she's an amazing woman."

"Of course she is." Sofia fumbled with a little bag. "Here."

"What's that?"

"Passport, money, credit card, keys to the front door, you can lock it, take all with you and make sure, I won't run so you can enjoy your shower and don't have to hurry." Sofia chuckled amused.

"Funny. I trust you." Sara handed everything back to Sofia. "You could have ran last night. Give me something to sleep and be in another country by now."

"I could, yes."

"You won't, Evi. I really like your blonde hair better, but this makes it almost impossible to recognize the smug detective I once knew. See you later, I want eggs for breakfast – and cheese on toast, a big coffee, black and an apple, cut into four pieces."

"How much do you pay?"

"A smile." Sara smiled and went into the bathroom.

"It's a start." Sofia laughed.

* * *

"Your first job is to call Lorne and tell her we're fine." Sofia pointed towards the computer.

"Okay." Sara started the computer. "What comes after that?"

"We check the security cameras if there was anything special last night, get the dogs prepared and go out."

"Sounds good…hi Lorne, here's Sara."

"Hi, how are you? How was your first night in ice and snow?"

"Uhm…I had a few more nights in snow and ice…every night was like that since I'm in Alaska."

"Yeah, but you're not in a town anymore, eh."

Town? Village. "No. It was all right. Any news from you?"

"No, We have the groups arrive here at ten, Bruce is already up and nervous. Unbelievable he does this for the whatever time. Nervous like a teenager on his first date. Hey Evi, where are you?"

"Checking the security camera about last night." Sofia pushed her chair in front of the camera and waved at Lorne.

"Did Sara behave?"

"Yes, no problems, no complains."

"Good. Do you have reasons to complain, Sara?"

"No, Evi was very nice to me." Sara blinked at Sofia. "She didn't send me away."

"She can't, Bruce ordered you to go there. Listen, we'll send a sled with food out tomorrow, the forecast isn't that good for the day after tomorrow. Anything special you need?"

"More food after we're two now. Especially more vegetarian food as Sara is a vegetarian. And if Bruce expects Sara to sleep in here, she needs some more sheets, it's impossible to keep the place over sixty degrees during the night."

"He think of sending you somebody over permanently."

"I'll discuss that with him. If he wins, he has to build a new hut, one you can keep warm."

"Was the night very cold, Sara?"

"I stayed with Evi, she couldn't get herself to leave me in the cold. So maybe you can send me something to sleep on. And don't forget we need more food for the dogs, after all I took twelve with me."

"They'll take four with them tomorrow. I'll send them a long list with food and drinks…hey!" Lorne protested when Ryan pushed her aside.

"Sara? How are you? Did you get over in one part? Everything all right with you?"

"Hi Ryan, everything is fine, Evi takes good care of me."

"She better does or she's in trouble with me, you hear me, English lady?"

"I do. Don't worry, your Las Vegas woman is in good hands. I ordered some vegetarian food for her. Does she needs some kisses from you as well?"

"No, she's fine without my kisses. Do you want some?"

"The next time you come over I might take one. Fresh delivered. Now I leave you to your Vegas woman."

"Her name is Sara, she hates it when somebody calls her Vegas. And Sara is a much nicer name than Vegas."

"I'm glad you learnt that." Sara said. "Do you have any work for us?"

"Not yet. The groups will come over at one point, we send you the last information of the bears we've tracked. One was quite close to your hut last night, don't go out for a midnight walk without me protecting you."

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"Ryan, it's cold during the day, it's even colder during the night plus I don't have a death wish and Evi will never allow me to leave the hut when it's dark. You can relax, nothing will happen. I stay here for a few days and come back during the day."

"Good. Stay safe and come back soon, I miss you…will you be my Facebook friend so I can look a lot of photos of you?"

"I'm not on Facebook."

"You should get an account there…how do you stay in contact with Greg?"

"Email and messenger."

"Can I be your messenger friend?"

"Stop annoying her, boy." Sofia stopped Ryan. "Make sure we get all the things we need and start your work. We need to get going too. Lorne, we talk later."

"Okay, enjoy your day, eh."

"We will. Bye." Sofia ended the conversation. "He hits on you."

"Are you jealous, Evi?"

"No. And don't make his face."

"Which face?"

"When you purse your mouth like you're about to blow somebody a kiss only to tease and make fun of the other person."

Sara pursed her mouth and smirked. "Weren't you to check on the cameras and not on me, British lady?"

"Kiss my arse."

"No, thanks. And it's ass in this country."

"I don't care, you guys don't have decent English, you sound the whole time like you're desperate for some air and swallowed a frog that calls out for help." Sofia grinned while she used her best British accent.

"You're just jealous because your country isn't important anymore."

"We'll always be important."

"Sure. What about last night? Anything happened?"

"Can't see anything, seemed to be a quiet night. We need to check on the weather, if there's really some nasty weather coming up we might have to leave the huge teddy bear alone and you need to learn another skill."

"Which one?"

"Build an igloo. The dogs need some shelter, we can't leave them all in the little shed behind my hut. It's big enough for mine but yours need a dry place to stay too. Ready to build a house made of snow?"

"Can you teach me?" An igloo? That sounded interesting and was one of the things she wanted to learn anyway. If the polar bear had to wait for this Sara was more than happy about it.

"We see how talented you are with your hands, you weren't too bad with my scooter. Let see if those years as a CSI taught you some other useful things. Or if you're nothing else than a lab rat who was lucky one time."

Sara eyed Sofia. The blonde knew exactly she hadn't been a lab rat. This was a call for payback and she'd get Sofia sooner or later for that. Or Evi, depended on where they were and who was around.


	9. Chapter 9

"Wahoo, it's an igloo." Sara called out enthusiastic. They made it. They built an igloo. Just the two of them. It took them he whole day but finally it was there. She had no idea how many icy snow blocks they had carried, each over a foot wide and two foot long, each weighted around eighty pounds. No psychic was needed to know Sara would have a hell of a sore back tomorrow. Probably all her muscles would be sore and she wasn't able to move an inch.

"Was about time, we need to finish it."

"It looks done to me."

"It's not. We might have built the walls, the entrance and it looks good but we need to get inside and even the walls. Otherwise the melting water will drip off. If we even the walls it will run down the walls. Plus we have to make sure the entrance is higher than the place where the dogs are. This way there will be up to four degrees Celsius…sorry, you need the Fahrenheit…"

"Don't worry about it, Evi, I'm fine. Four degrees Celsius means it's above the temperature when things freeze. Can we finish it today?"

"Yes. We do the walls, if the height isn't correct we'll correct it tomorrow."

"And the dogs stay inside? Are they fine in there?"

"Yes. They prefer an igloo over drowning in snow. I had once over a yard of snow in one night, that's not good for the dogs. Mine have their own igloo when I go on an overnight trip with them, this one is for yours."

"The first igloo I ever built. Was I any good?"

"Yes. There are a few things you can improve in, we'll get to these details when we have some more time. Today is important to get it done. Why don't you go in and call Lorne, it's time for our last call and I start in here."

"Okay. Anything special I need to tell her?"

"No, we didn't do anything except building an igloo."

"All right. See you later."

Sofia watched Sara walking away. Was it good she knew Sofia Curtis was still alive? She couldn't help wondering if the decision she made was the right one. Yesterday she had no other choice than giving in, saying it was true, she was Sofia, had to tell Sara her story. But how smart had this been? Shouldn't she have tried to deny it all the time or leave in the middle of the night to start all over again? Or even better, fake her own death again and vanish. It was a risk, it wasn't the way it was supposed to be and…it wasn't like she couldn't trust Sara…it was…she was very uncomfortable the way it was now. No matter hoe much she told herself everything was fine and Sara wouldn't tell anybody about her. She was a risk herself, every day could be the day she said something wrong, forgot to play her role and people find out she was lying the whole time. Now the risk was doubled with Sara knowing about her. Was it smart to stay? There weren't many possibilities when she wanted nobody to know about her. One was to fake her own death again and vanish, this time it would be more difficult, Sara wouldn't stay away and she didn't have the FBI backing her up, helping her to vanish. The second possibility was making Sara disappear. Nothing she wanted and nothing she could ever do. No way. She couldn't hurt the brunette, leave alone kill her to reduce her own risk. No. It had to work out this way; somehow.

A hand was placed on her shoulder and Sofia could stop the punch she was about to throw.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you." Sara's voice was softly.

"Not your fault I was dreaming. How is the base?"

"Good. The groups take up a lot of time and they want to come here at one point."

"Of course they do."

"The sled with our food will be here around noon tomorrow. Ryan warned me not to ask you too many questions, you don't like that and get bitchy." The brunette grinned.

"Me? Bitchy? He hasn't met you when you're on top of your bitchiness, has he?" Sofia smirked.

"He got a taste. Shall we continue inside?"

"Start. I haven't done anything, sorry. I took an unscheduled break."

"That's all right with me. You need some time for your thoughts every now and then."

"Yeah…even when they're stupid."

"You worried about something, it was obvious. I hope it has nothing to do with me knowing who you are. I promised you I won't tell anybody and I'll keep my promise. No matter what. Knowing you're alive is like…like having a second a chance to get to know you. And continue where we stopped because I think, we were on a good road. A few more weeks and we might have become friends who meet for a beer after work."

"A beer after work with you? Why would I want to do that?" Sofia furrowed her brows. "I had you in my bed, a beer after work is a step back."

"Right." Sara bopped the blonde. "Come on, show me how to finish the igloo."

They crawled into the igloo. To Sara's surprise it wasn't dark in here, there was some light coming through the walls.

"Take this and even the ceiling. Like this." Sofia started to rub over the surface and make it even. "Normally you use your gloves for it but they get very wet and it's easier to use the plastic cover for them so they stay dry and your hands warm. It will take some time, but we can do most of it today when we work another hour or so. We stop as soon as we're too hungry to continue. How are your arms and legs? Any pain yet?"

"No, but I know there will be pain. A lot of pain."

"Take a hot bath when we're done, it might help a bit. Otherwise, if the pain is too big we won't do much tomorrow, finish this one off. You know, the native people finish their igloo in less than a quarter of the time we need."

"They know what to do."

"Yes. It's amazing to watch them."

Sara stopped and watched Sofia for a moment. "You don't feel comfortable, do you?"

"No." She sighed and sat down. When Sara could see it on her face it had to be very obvious.

"Is there anything I can do to change this? Obviously you don't feel comfortable with me knowing…things I'm supposed to know."

"Nobody can listen to us here, Sara."

"We had an agreement and it says how to act outside your hut. No matter if there's somebody around or not." Sara sat next to Sofia. "You can leave and start somewhere new again but I'd still know the truth. There's only one way that only you know the whole story."

Sofia's now dark eyes laid on Sara. "Don't go there."

"Why? It's true."

"It's not an option. Never!"

"It's about your safety, I can't be mad when you think of getting me out of the way to make sure you're safe."

"No, that's bullshit!"

"Nevertheless it crossed your mind, didn't it?"

Sofia put her head down and bit her lips. Yes. Yes it had been on her mind. Only a few minutes ago. Why did Sara know? It was a stupid thought, she knew it as soon as it popped up in her head. Never ever. There was no way she could do anything to Sara. Before she hurt the brunette she'd die herself. She was a damn cop, in her heart she still was a detective and Sara was her CSI and it was her damn job to keep her CSI safe. She always made a good job. One time somebody got Sara and Sofia hadn't done anything to stop Nathalie, one time too much. As long as Sofia was around nobody would ever hurt or threaten Sara again. That included herself!

"You're my CSI, the hell will freeze before I let anything happen to you! Nobody, that includes myself, will ever hurt you! Not as long as I can do everything to keep you safe! Do you hear me? Nobody! I failed once I won't fail again."

"You never failed."

"Nathalie got you, she almost got you killed. If I had done my job the way I'm supposed to do it, if I had taken care of you or put her into jail, this had never happened to you. One time is one time too much."

"It wasn't your fault."

"It was. I was the detective, I had to take care of you. In my heart I'm still a detective, I'll always be one, and no one will ever hurt you again. Only over my own dead body."

Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "You never failed, you hear me?"

"I…"

"No! You didn't fail! You weren't my babysitter. I was on my way to my car, I was on the premises of the lab, the security there should have made sure she can't get in. If anybody failed it was them. Not you. Never. You never failed."

"I really thought at one moment it might be better for me when you…when I…god…"

"It's okay, I'm sure I would have the same thoughts." Sara stroke softly over Sofia's back, knowing the blonde was crying because she had scared herself. More than anybody else.

"You promised to keep my secret, I've no reasons to think…something horrible. How can you expect me to trust you when I don't trust you? When I have these thoughts and…it's not right. It's all so wrong."

"This is a difficult situation, no doubt about it. We'll manage it, we'll find a way to make us both feel good."

"How can you be so sure? How can you trust me not to…do anything…stupid."

"You're my detective, you take care of me. Yesterday you saved my life again, why would you save me and do anything to me a few hours later? Makes no sense. You knew from the moment you got me out of the water you risk your cover, you did it nanyway. Put yourself at risk by coming close to a polar bear. There're no reasons not to trust you, Evi."

"You're really good with the name thing."

"I'm good with everything." She pulled the other woman closer. "Can we stop in here or do we have to finish it today?"

"If you don't want to…"

"It's nothing about if I want, I ask you if it's bad when we leave it until tomorrow?"

"No."

"Good. Why don't we go back to your hut, have a shower to warm our poor muscles a little bit and have something to eat. I'm starving."

"Sounds good."

"Good." Sara put her finger under Sofia's chin to lift her head. "Give me a little smile, please."

It was more like a sorry excuse for a smile what Sofia made.

"You can do better but I give you some bonus for trying."

"Thanks. And thanks for…understanding me."

"Not that difficult." Sara pulled Sofia on her feet. "Wanna bet we find a solution that makes us both happy?"

"I hope so."

"I know it. And get your damn British accent back or I kick your arse, Evangeline."

Sofia laughed. "You like that accent?"

"Yeah, very sexy. Very arrogant. Very smug. Suits you."

"You're lucky I can find the hidden compliments in the insults, Miss Sidle."

"Really Miss…they never mentioned your surname."

"Elliot. And it's Misses, I'm divorced."

"Oh, am I sorry for that or is it better this way?"

"Much better."

"Good. Move your arse, Misses Elliot. I'm hungry, make me something very British for tea."

"Stop making fun of me, Miss Sidle."

"Make me stop." Sara vanished out of the igloo, followed by Sofia who started throwing snow balls at the other woman as soon as they were outside. If she was able to catch Sara she'd put some snow and ice in her jacket so it got on the brunette's back. A cold revenge.


	10. Chapter 10

"Back in blonde." Sara smiled when Sofia came out of the bathroom.

"Yes, thought you might like it better this way. Blonde with blue eyes."

"I told you I do. Does it matter to you if I like blonde or black more?"

"Of course. I'm an arrogant and smug woman, I want everybody to adore me."

"True, I forgot." Sara chuckled. "Apple and banana pancake, can you live with this or shall I make you a ham pancake?"

"A vegetarian for one day is all right. Other people live like this their entire life…why did you become a vegetarian?"

"Grissom's fault. He made an experience with a pig and since that day I couldn't touch meat anymore. For hours and hours he sat there, watched the flies eating the meat, it was just gross. And as a real animal lover you shouldn't eat them. We're supposed to save them, make sure nobody will kill them, how can we continue to eat them?"

"I don't eat seals or polar bears."

"Cows, pigs and chicken are animals too."

"True. Sorry, you can't convince me. I'm happy not to touch meat for a day or two but I won't become a vegetarian. There's too much predator in me." Sofia sat on a chair, feet up so she could place her head on her knee. "The whole day working on an igloo made me really tired. I guess after we had dinner I'll send them a message I'm too tired to wait until ten and program the computer to send the message in time. Or do you want to stay up until ten?"

"Not really." Sara placed two pancakes in front of Sofia and put two for herself on a plate. "What would you like to drink?"

"Hot chocolate. Thanks."

"I make two. Milk or water?"

"Milk."

"Okay." With a smile Sara poured some milk into two mugs, added some drinking chocolate powder and put it in the microwave.

"You're a good housewife."

"I'm good at everything, I told you."

"Yeah…who is the smug one?"

"That has nothing to do with being smug, it's the truth."

"Arrogant."

"Wanna fight with me?"

"No, we did that enough. Sit down." Sofia got up to get the hot chocolate out of the microwave. "Thanks for cooking."

"Thanks for letting me stay in your warm hut instead the cold one."

"You're welcome. It's not too bad to have some company after all these months of being alone."

"True…are we in a state where we can talk about private things? Or do we need some more time for that?" Sara asked carefully.

"We can try and if one of us feels like it's too much too soon we stop."

"Sounds reasonable."

"What would you like to know?"

"I was wondering…with this new identity…how do you manage your relationships? Isn't it strange to be with somebody who calls you by a name that isn't really yours? Don't you feel like he is with another woman?"

"I haven't been in a relationship since Sofia died officially. I try to avoid close relationships as they endanger my identity. Guess I've no idea how to act in a relationship anyway, it's been a while since I've been involved…a long while…five years or so."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Not by choice, not first. Now it is. Partly."

"A relationship could be good for your cover. It gives your life an ordinary touch."

"And makes a lot of work. To keep on track with all the stories I made up. I mean, it's Evi's life, she can't just mess important things up, get confused with her own dates."

"When is her birthday?"

"February twenty-fourth nineteen seventy five…the only good thing about these lies is, I can make myself younger. She went to Cambridge, got a degree in physics and worked in a lab in England for a couple of years. Then she decided to do something new, change her life and work for this institution. Save the planet, save the animals and kick the arses of hunter.

Her parents, who still live in England, don't agree with her new job, they don't have any contact and Evi doesn't fly over to see them. When she has a few days off she prefers to go to Canada, hikes around national parks. You can say she prefers to stay on her own and is not into socializing that much. A little bit of a loner but never unfriendly when one of her colleagues comes over to see her."

"Anybody tried to hit on you?"

"One or two. There aren't many women around so the guys have to try what they can get. What about you? How many offers did you put down?"

"One or two for dinner. Told them I come out of a relationship, was engaged and don't feel like any closer contact right now. Plus the fact that I spend a lot of time with Ryan made most guys think, I have an affair with him. There is some office gossip, we both don't care about it. We're friends, nothing more.

Your divorce is a good way to keep them away. Especially when you pretend to be a horrible woman who blames the ex hubby for everything."

"I told them I got divorced because I found out I'm not interested in men, had an affair with a woman and have no intention to let man ever close to me."

"They accepted that?"

"They had no other choice. So don't be surprise when they think you've an affair with Ryan and me now."

"If that makes them happy, I don't care."

"Good."

"You can ask me about Grissom if you want." Sara smiled softly. She had asked Sofia something personal, it was only fair when the blonde did the same now.

"What went wrong? Or was it just not meant to be?"

"I guess so. After your death and my abduction I couldn't stay in Vegas anymore and left. We tried to keep our relationship alive, I came around a few times, hoping he'd join me but he didn't. He tried to push the decision away, tried to get more time, sometimes not making a decision is making a decision. I broke it up, he can't be happy anywhere else than in the lab while I can't be happy there anymore. It's the best for both of us like it is now."

"Will you go back to Vegas for a visit? To see Greg?"

"Yes. I miss him."

"Did you see him before you came here?"

"Briefly. We met in San Diego, he was there to see his parents, I stayed with him for four days and continued to come here. Mom and dad Sanders thought I'd take their son with me. Their poor baby up in the cold with all its danger."

"They think you and Greg are a couple?"

"Probably. They made us share a room, we never told them we're only friends. I've no problems sharing a bed with Greg."

"You seem to be quite good in sharing beds."

"Yeah, I don't care with whom I sleep." Sara laughed. "If you want to put it in this way."

"Never said that." Sofia grinned.

"I heard your unspoken words."

"We need to wash your ears." Sofia took away the plates, rinsed them and left them in the sink. "Want some dessert? I can offer a beer, chocolate and…a banana."

"I had enough sweet stuff for today so I pick the beer."

"Good decision. Where would you like to drink it? Which one of the many choice you have in my villa is your favorite?"

"The bed. I like to be in other people's bed."

"No comment on that." The blonde got two bottles of beer, her laptop and carried all to the bed. "We can watch a movie before while we have a beer. Or a TV series. Got some episodes of the "Golden Girls" here."

"They're fun." Sara slipped into the bed and opened the beer bottles for them.

"Like cinema, only more comfortable."

"And no pay."

"Oh, you'll get a bill at the end of the week, believe me. You don't stay here for free, my dear."

"Not? Bugger. You can send the bill to my boss, he wanted me here."

"In the cold hut."

"Somebody didn't let me sleep there last night."

"For a reason…I'm happy nothing serious happened. There could have been a few complications after your bath."

"I'm tough."

"You're sensitive, you try to hide it but I know it." Sofia grinned and started her laptop. Time for some laughs before they called it a day and slept.

* * *

An hour later a sound asleep Sara had snuggled herself up on Sofia's side, one arm over the stomach of the blonde, holding on to her like she wanted to make sure, the other woman couldn't run away. Finishing the last episode Sofia shut down the laptop and watched the brunette in the soft light on her dimmed light.

Sara looked so peaceful when she slept. Like she knew nothing could happen to her because Sofia was there. Sofia, who had thoughts of killing Sara to keep her own life safer. What a stupid thought, how could it ever occur in her head? The brunette wasn't a threat, she was…a gift. Somebody who knew her, somebody she didn't have to lie to, didn't have to stick to the made up stories of her made up life. With Sara around she could relax, didn't have to bother about what she said.

Softly she stroke with her index finger over Sara's cheek. "Wake up."

Some not to understand words were mumbled, the grip around her was tightened and that was all the reaction Sofia got.

"You need to undress and brush your teeth."

"No."

"Yes you do. I go to the bathroom now, you have a few minutes before you have to get up. If you're asleep again I'll wake you up, pull away the blanket and open the window."

"Meany."

"Learnt from the best."

"Bite me."

"No, you'd enjoy that too much." Moving Sara's arm away after they had a little wrestle about it, Sofia got out of bed, took the laptop with her to the table and switched on the lights. Disapproval came from out of the bed when the bright light turned the room from night into day.

"Wake up or I take a cold and wet cloth!"

"Fuck off!" Sara turned and buried her head under the pillow. She didn't want to get up, change and brush her teeth. She was tired, she felt her sore muscles and every movement was pure pain.

When she heard how the bathroom door was closed she opened her eyes. Why did she have to get up? It was just perfect in bed. Slowly she got a hand out from under the blanket. Cold! Way too cold. Hell, what happened to the heater? Or was she spoiled after…whatever how long in bed, with Sofia as her personal heater? Possible.

Cursing and complaining she got out of bed, grabbed her sleep shirt and fell backwards back on the bed. She built an igloo! Okay, it took her and Sofia over six hours while other people made it in three or even two hours but their igloo was quite big – at least that was what she thought – and they weren't that experienced. So they had a reason to be proud of themselves. A home for the dogs, a place for them to stay warm and dry in case there was some snow the day after tomorrow. She felt sorry for them to be outside now, no matter if they were used to it or not and didn't feel cold. They should have a warm place too and not only a shelter with an open wall.

If Sofia let them sleep in the hut? Probably not. There wasn't enough space and they couldn't let over a dozen dogs in the huts, expect them to lay down and sleep. They were okay the way it was, everybody assured of that since she came here. When she asked why the dogs didn't come into the huts people laughed at her. They are snow dogs, they can cope. But why cope with snow when there was a warm place in front of the fire?

"You get up by yourself or do I need to help you?"

"I am up!" She held out her hand so Sofia could pull her up.

"The faster you get into the bathroom the faster you can come back to bed."

"If I stayed in bed I had not to worry about going there at all.

"Go!" Sofia got back into bed. "I keep the bed warm."

Cursing the brunette went into the bathroom while the blonde chuckled. It looked like Sara wasn't a person who woke up and was in a good mood. Not what you call a morning person. It was better not to wake her up for no reason. Not that she was any different herself.

Off to another night with Sara in her bed. It still felt strange when she thought about it. There was somebody next to her, the whole night, woke up next to her. A feeling she could barely remember of. After all these years alone it was almost new to have somebody in your bed, feel another body, hear somebody breathing and find yourself in the arms of somebody when you wake up or have your arms around somebody. Now that she had this feeling again she realized how much she missed it. Probably when Sara left to stay in the village again, she'd miss her.

Maybe, if her boss really insisted on some company for her here, Sara could be the one. If the brunette wanted it. After all, this was a really quiet and lonely place, even worse than the village. Sofia could understand when people don't wanted to live here. In the middle of nowhere, between seals and polar bears. The only excitement were movies from the internet and when the weather was really bad not even the internet worked properly.

"Teeth brushed, washed, am I allowed to go back to bed?"

"If you switch off the light first."

"Of course." Within seconds it was dark and Sara was back in bed. "My whole body is in pain from the igloo experience."

"It's some work out to build these things, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It was fun."

"Good. We finish it tomorrow, get our new goodies in and have a look for the bear before the snow arrives."

"There is already a lot of snow outside."

"Believe me, when a blizzard hits us, you'll see what it means to live in Alaska. You won't be able to get out, not even to look after the dogs."

"Great, sounds like something I want to experience – just as much as malaria." Sara pulled Sofia into her arms. "Be my heater and make me forget ice and snow. I want to be on an tropical island."

"Nice dream. Keep it for the night."

"I will. Night, night, don't let the bed bugs bite."

"I'm more scared of you than of bed bugs."

"I don't bite…I think." Carefully she bit Sofia's shoulder. "Only a bit."

"Do that again and you can sleep outside with the dogs."

"You wouldn't do that." Sara kissed the place she bit before. "Thanks for the day, for teaching me something new."

"You're welcome. Thanks for the help."

"My pleasure." The brunette yawned and closed her eyes. Time to catch up with her dream of the tropical island. White sand, deep blue water and sky…paradise…


	11. Chapter 11

**Part 5**

The alarm clock was loud, without mercy and forced Sara to get her arm out under the blanket. With one hit she switched the alarm off and grumbled. Bloody noise. It was too early to get up and it felt too cold to leave the bed.

"We have to get up." Sofia's voice was sleepy.

"Why?"

"Because we have to check in with Lorne, feed the dogs and finish the igloo. Plus we need an eye on the weather, yesterday night it looked like there is a nasty blizzard coming our way. We have to prepare the huts for it."

"What do we have to do?" Did they have to do anything at all? Her whole body was in pain, sore muscles in every limb. And Sofia told her they had a lot of things to do. Made her pain get worse.

"We're likely to lose power so we need a lot of wood in the hut to keep it warm, get the candles ready and cook some food we can eat cold. Plus the data has to be saved, the electronic needs to be covered up with plastic in case a window breaks and snow comes in. We'll be very busy, Sara."

"Sounds like…the reason to stay in bed." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "When we close our eyes and pretend the world around us doesn't exist we might get away with staying in bed all day."

"No, we'll be interrupted by whoever brings us our groceries, the dogs will get hungry and bark a lot and Bruce will get mad because we didn't call Lorne. As much as I fancy a day in bed, it's not possible. The only choice you have is: do you want to get into the bathroom first and let me prepare breakfast or the other way around?"

"The other way around, I wanna stay in bed."

"All right. I want scrambled eggs on toast with cheese and salami for breakfast." When Sofia tried to get out of bed she was pulled back by Sara.

"One more minute."

"You're like a school child."

"So?"

"So…nothing." The blonde gave in and snuggled into her pillow. "Do you feel all right?"

"Apart from sore muscles? Yes. I think I coped good with the bath in the sea. Not a reason to repeat it but also not a reason to worry too much. How about yourself?"

"I get used to the fact somebody knows Evi isn't real."

"Used…like you get used to living with one leg or so."

"Not like that."

"Exactly like that."

"No, it's really not like that. I wasn't very happy, that's true. But I start to like it…like that you know who I am. And I don't worry that much anymore…a bit…it will be better after today, after we both met somebody and nothing went wrong."

"Of course nothing will go wrong."

"We know what to do and what to say. And what not."

"Yes."

"And now I get up because we are on a tight schedule!"

"Okay I start the coffee and make some breakfast. Do you have oranges?"

"In a couple of hours I hope."

"Damn it, okay no fresh orange juice. Tea or coffee, English lady?"

"Coffee please. I'll have an elevenses later."

"A what?"

"You'll see. If you're nice I might make you one as well." Sofia grinned. Time to get started so they had everything sorted out by the time the possible bad weather arrived.

* * *

"Yo lady, how's it going?" Kevin stopped the sled next to the hut.

"Did you make the weather?" Sofia jumped from the roof of the smaller hut into the snow.

"Careful Evi, you don't wanna break your legs on a day like today."

"I did this a few times, I know what I'm doing."

"Of course you do. How is your help? Helpful?"

"Yes."

"Really? You never wanted anybody around. What is different now?"

"I'm older and wiser now. If Bruce says Sara is supposed to stay here I can live with his decision. If he wants to send somebody else I won't agree. You can let him know in case he starts wondering. The CSI isn't too bad, she knows how to fix things, makes herself quite useful, is a quick learner and doesn't whine when the day is longer than eight hours. Most of your guys in the village want their nine to five hours and don't like it when they have to build an igloo with their own hands."

"You made her build an igloo?"

"We made one yesterday. Her dogs need some shelter."

"I take them with me." He started to unload the sled.

"All of them?"

"Yeah. Food for sixteen dogs is too much with all the other things you need. The two of you can take the scooter to get her back to the village. This way you get under people as well. It's been a while since you've been out of the white desert."

"A few days."

"You mean weeks."

"Whatever. I have a week off next month and go down to Montreal."

"Sounds like a good plan, you deserve some time off and fun."

"Shopping tours. Five days of shopping, doesn't sound that great?"

"Like a horror movie." Kevin laughed. "Now, I got you a package with English breakfast tea, I've no idea why you like this stuff, it's disgusting…probably you've to be English to like it. And some of these strange cookies…"

"Scones. They're not cookies, if you have to give them another name call them at least a biscuit." Sofia rolled her eyes.

"Cookies. Lorne packed a bag for you, I've no idea what's in there and Ryan had a big bag for Sara. Our little boy misses the Vegas girl a lot. It will break his heart if she stays with you. In case she agrees on it and wants to stay here."

"Who wouldn't wanna stay with me?"

"People who are not keen of living in the middle of nowhere, without the chance to do anything else than work and skiing."

"The perfect place for burn out people. Once the work is done you can't do more and there's nothing that you have to fix, no garden, no car to wash. Only wood to chop."

"Talking about wood, I ordered some new wood for you. Next week will be a huge delivery, enough to keep you going for a couple of weeks."

"Good."

"Did you get the big guy?"

"No because we built the igloo. I saw some marks in the snow, big ones, could have been him, walking around the hut during the night. The digs barked a couple of times, he didn't attack them, didn't get too close but I think I want them inside and locked away to make sure, there won't be a fight." Sofia lifted a box that was signed as FRAGILE. "What's that?"

"I've no idea. Another thing of Lorne. She said I've to make sure it's not too cold, don't put anything heavy on it, don't shake it too much…and so on. Sounds like you get expensive china."

"I never ordered china." Sofia shook her head. A part of her wanted to open the box and have a look what was inside, but there was no time for that. She took it and carried it in her hut, together with two other boxes.

"Sara! We need your hands!" She called out for the brunette who was in the smaller hut.

"Coming!" Pulling the scarf tighter around her throat Sara came out. "Hey Kev, how are you?"

"Good, what about you? Are you sick and tired of the big nothing?"

"No, I enjoy it here. Tell Bruce I wanna stay."

"Well, that's a good coincidence, Evi wants you to stay too. I let the boss know."

"Good. The four dogs are ready, shall I put them in front of your….wow already fourteen dogs."

"Them and the other eight as well. I take them all, it might be longer than tomorrow that you're here and we didn't have enough space for all the dog food."

"Uhm…okay…"

"You can get back with the scooter, get Evi back to the HQ, make her face a few people."

"Did you tell her this?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I get all my lovely dogs…or shall I carry the stuff first inside?"

"You get the dogs, Evi and me handle the stuff. Your boyfriend sent you a personal parcel."

"Who?" Sara furrowed her brows. Did they mistake Greg for her boyfriend? Did he send something for her?

"Little Ryan."

"Oh, Ryan."

"It will break his heart when you forgot him after two days."

"He'll survive." Especially because he wasn't her boyfriend. But when their colleagues wanted to believe this, it was fine with her. And Ryan didn't mind either. They had talked about it, didn't care and wouldn't argue. For some people it meant the gossip was right, they didn't care about that either.

With two dogs she came back, untied the first dog as it was the alpha dog and let her two take his place. A sled with twenty-six dogs was something. She had never seen so many dogs in front of one sled. It took her almost half an hour before all dogs were n front of the sled. By this time Sofia and Kevin had unloaded the sled.

She found both in the work hut, sipping a hot coffee and eating sandwiches.

"All dogs are ready to go."

"Thanks. Have a seat, some coffee and a sandwich. Salad and cheese."

"I'm not hungry…"

"Sit down, have a break." Kevin ordered. "You need a break before you continue with the work."

"We're on a tight schedule and don't have time."

"When you don't have time it's important not to rush."

"Grissom said once something like that."

"Who is that?"

"My…he was my boss."

"A smart boss. Okay, I better leave because the wind is getting more nasty. Are you two all right?"

"Yeah. We let you know how we're here and if we don't call in we lost power." Sofia got up. "If the wind picks up it will happen sooner or later."

"Unfortunately. You take care of your trainee?"

"Sure."

"And I take care of Evi." Sara smiled. "Even when British people are famous for living with nasty weather…does it really rain this much in England? And is London really that foggy?"

"No. You should go there and have a look for yourself, it's a lovely country. A lot of history and culture and I promise the temperature is higher than it is here."

"Not that difficult. Maybe one day I go there. My next holiday trip will definitely be somewhere hot with a lot of sunshine after all the ice and snow."

"That's what my wife says and she's right on that." Kevin put on his gloves. "You take care of each other and let us know how you are as long as possible. The emergency kit is in your hut, Evi?"

"Of course."

"Well then, I leave you ladies. See you soon."

"Bye Kev."

"Say hello to everybody." Sara said.

"Will do." He left the hut while Sara and Sofia stayed inside.

"Two more minutes and we have to continue as well."

"You're the boss, Evi. When will we let the dogs inside?" Sofia had let her dogs run around free so they could get some exercise before they had to spend some time in the shed.

"Before we finish here. I started to pull the data on the external hard drive, we need to get it over to my hut when it's finished. If you fill up the wood place in my hut I finish here. Your sled must get stored somewhere, we'll tie it up and bury it in snow so the wind won't get it. Then we need to start preparing for the case we're off power. Make some coffee, get the gas cooker out."

"Sounds like we expect really nasty weather."

"We do. The good side is, we won't have the groups around until the weather is better and no hunter will come here. I checked the cameras, nobody was around last night. Except for the big bear. Hopefully it will find a place somewhere for the night, we don't want him close to the huts, breaking in, attacking the dogs or us. It would be a pity to shoot him."

"Can we tranquilize him?"

"Not if the weather stays bad for a couple of days."

"Does this happen often?"

"The worst weather period I've experienced were two weeks of heavy snow and strong winds. We'll have a food problem if that happens again."

"In that case we should get prepared. I got and get the wood."

"And I finish up in here." Another look out of the window told Sofia the weather got worse with every minute. She hoped Kevin made it back in time, before it got too bad.


	12. Chapter 12

"Fuck!" Sara got back on her feet. The wind had just blown her off her feet. Instead of being a step closer to the hut she was now five yards away. This was the worst wind she ever experienced. It was strong, it was cold and blew snow and ice in her face, leaving her skin sore and bruised. Or it felt bruised. Not the kind of weather you picked for a picnic or a Sunday afternoon walk.

She had gone out to check on the dogs, made sure the door was locked and wanted to go back when the wind changed her route. Not bothering with getting up on her feet she go on her knees and crawled the way back to Sofia's hut. Holding on to the door knot she got up, opened the door and closed it immediately after herself.

"The bloody wind blew me off my feet, I flew a few yards and crawled the way back."

"Are you injured?" Sofia's head appeared from behind one box.

"No. Just annoyed with the weather."

"We'll stay inside until it's over. Everything is done, we're fine. Time to unpack all the goodies we got. An early Christmas."

"Yeah. What is in the big box?"

"Flour, sugar, salt, yeast. Bread uses too much space in the freezer, this way we can make our own bread."

"If we have power. Do we have candles?"

"Yes, I put a few across the room, two are next to bed. Also a lighter. You got a personal bag from Ryan."

"I wonder what he sent me." Sara opened the bag. "Oh, candies and fruit bars. That's nice, we might need them. And a sleeping bag. Does he believe I stay in the work hut?"

"He wants to be sure you're warm. Nice guy. Now, what is this? Fragile. What kind of fragile things could Lorne send me?"

"Somebody wasn't careful with your parcel, there are holes inside."

"Yeah. Broken china? Light bulbs? We have a look." Sofia pulled the duct tape off and opened the box. "Oi!" Her eyes were stuck on the box.

"What is it?" Sara stepped next to the still black haired woman. "Oh."

A little kitten was in the box, frightened it looked at the two women.

"You poor thing, you were all these hours in the box. Oh, I'm so sorry." Carefully Sofia tried to pick the kitten up but it hissed and tried to scratch her.

"You have all reasons to be mad with me, right. Shall I leave you alone so you can have a look around?"

"Might be better. So cute." Sara said. "All black with a white nose and four white paws. Do you have a name?"

"Here's a note…now you've a man in your life and house. A good one. Lorne. Oh, she's nice."

"Did you tell her you want a kitten?"

"I told her I need a strong man around who doesn't tell me what to do, doesn't make a mess and likes to cuddle. Looks like she found the perfect man for me. Lets see if we have some cat food too. I'm not sure if he likes dog food." Sofia smiled at her kitten that was still in the box, one eye on the women and with the other he had a look around.

"Yes, we look for his food, you pick a name and we leave him alone. After all these hours in a box he needs some freedom."

"I found a cat litter box. That's good. Can't send him out in this weather. There's another box from Lorne, we should check this one first. I doubt she told anybody about the kitten." They torn apart the box and found three big bags of cat litter, two dozen cans of cat food, three bottles of milk especially made for cats, a thick blanket, a cat tree to climb with a little cave in it and some toys. All the little man needed.

"A place next to the fire he'll appreciate that." Sara looked around. Where was the kitten?

"Yes. What do you think of Curtis as a name?"

"I once knew somebody whose surname was Curtis."

"Really? How was he?"

"She was a really nice woman, I missed her a lot when she left."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"Did she know you cared a bit about her?"

"Stupid me never told her she was very important to me."

"Maybe you get a second chance one day." Sofia smiled.

"Maybe. I really miss my blonde."

"Don't like black hair?"

"It's not about the hair color, she wasn't a real blonde. But it suited her a lot."

"I bet everything looked good on her."

"Of course." Sara laughed. "The little tiger is under your bed."

"Hiding. Hey Curtis." Sofia lay on her belly to get a better look under her bed. There were a lot of boxes stored so the cat didn't have a lot of space to hide. When Sofia got closer it hissed again. "Oh sweetheart, there is no reason to hiss at me, I don't want to hurt you. Come here, baby Curtis. Be a good boy."

"Curtis could be hungry, you might wanna try to get him with some food."

"Yeah…after you told them back at the HQ we're fine, stay inside until the blizzard is over and I have changed into something casual…and blonde hair with blue eyes because somebody likes them so much."

"Curtis will enjoy playing with long hair."

"I'm afraid he won't play with you or me tonight."

"We're patient and as long as there's a blizzard outside we've nothing else to do than gain his trust."

"Exactly. You on the computer, I get into the bathroom. Shall I put the kettle on?"

"Four o'clock tea? Sure Pome."

"You spend too much time with the Aussie." Sofia got up, grabbed her sweat pants and jumper. Time to change back to Sofia, Evi could have the rest of the day off.

* * *

"Look, he eats." Sofia pointed towards the kitten that made its way through the room to get some dinner.

"Must be hungry. Like us. Want some more mashed potatoes?"

"Sure…I want a bigger dam than yours."

"No chance." Sara grinned. Both had built a dam of mashed potatoes, filled up with sauce and drowned a few carrots in it.

"We'll see."

"You have to eat what's on your plate."

"Yes mum."

"Mom."

"Whatever. Didn't your mother tell you not to play with your food?"

"She did. What about yours?"

"No playing with food. My grandmother was even stricter. If I had built a dam with mashed potatoes and sauce she had lectured me about how people starve to death while I play with the food." Sofia made sure the mashed potatoes were solid before she dug a little hole in her lake of sauce and let the sauce. "I need more sauce…or wait I build an island made of steak."

Sara chuckled. They were having a lot of fun with their food. While she watched Sofia putting little pieces of steak in her dam to come up with an island, she started to eat her own food. Mashed potatoes, carrots, sauce and tofu.

"Hah! Look at that."

"Not too bad but with this brown water nobody wants to go on holidays there."

"It's delicious brown water, not yucky stuff…hey, you destroyed your dam."

"I'm hungry."

"Okay, playtime is over."

"Curtis watches us."

"He'll get used to us and when we fed him a few times he'll understand we're his friends. I wonder where Lorne got him from. Somebody in the village must have kitten."

"Not that I've heard of it. This white nose is special."

"He's a special cat, he's my tiger."

"Curtis tiger."

"Exactly." Sofia grinned. "I'd love to give him some steaks but it's not a good idea to teach him on the table is food for him. Sooner or later he'll get all over the place anyway. Do you think he'll join us in bed later?"

"I don't think he'll do it tonight, at one point certainly. You. I won't be here anymore."

"If we're stuck in here for two weeks you will."

"Two weeks with you in one hut? Sounds like torture."

"Bitch."

"Cry me a river."

"You enjoy our time together." Sofia got up, went to Sara and sat on her lap. "A lot."

"Get off me, back to your chair or you end up on the floor."

"You won't do that." The blonde hugged the brunette. "Thanks for staying with me and not leaving with Kevin back to the village. I appreciate your company."

"Don't make me regret it."

"Never." Sofia stayed on Sara's lap. "We get through this rough time, the storm."

With the feeling the blonde meant more than the weather outside Sara got her arms around her. "Which one do you mean?"

"All of them?"

"As a team we'll be fine. And that we're a good team, we proved that a few times."

"Indeed. Want some dessert?"

"What's on the menu?"

"A pineapple."

"Absolutely. Shall I cut it?"

"And I prepare some…do you want cream with it? Or chocolate sauce?"

"Only the pineapple."

"You're awful healthy." Sofia hugged Sara and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for…everything."

"I'm the one who has to be grateful, you saved my life twice."

"You're returning this favor since two days and plan to continue it. I owe you big time."

"We're even. Come on, don't make me try to get up with you on my lap."

"Wanna have dessert in my bed?"

"You invite all people in your bed for dessert?"

"I'm a blonde, what do you expect?"

"Only the best." Sara blinked at Sofia.

* * *

Last night Sara had fallen asleep first, tonight it was Sofia. Her head on Sara's lap, her hair spread out, rolled up to a ball she slept while the brunette watched a movie, her hand softy stroking the long blond hair. So peaceful. Like nothing in the world bothered her, gave her sorrows. Despite Sara knew better for a moment she saw a perfectly happy and satisfied woman in front of her.

Alive. Sofia was alive. She had told herself this a couple of times over the last two days. The blonde detective, the former CSI, wasn't dead. She was alive, she was here and Sara worked with her again. She had missed her, she was sad when Sofia died but it seemed like she now slowly realized how much she had missed her the last years, how much the death of the blonde had effected her. Maybe it had also been a reason why she left Vegas. Something was missing without Sofia. Why did the other woman had such an influence on her? Had they been close without…yes, without being that close?

"Stop staring at me." Sofia grumbled without lifting her head. "I can feel your eyes on my head."

"Not my eyes, Curtis's eyes."

"Where is our baby?"

"On a chair, watching us, not quite sure how dangerous we are."

"Not dangerous at all."

"You tell him. Don't you have some ham or something else we can feed him with? Something that makes him come close to us?"

"You want to blackmail the cat? That's cheap. We'll wait until he realizes we're nice people who won't hurt him." Sofia turned so that she could face Sara without getting her head out of the lap of the other woman. "Wanna tell me what you thought of while you stared a hole in the back of my head?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes. I thought despite everything you looked happy when you slept, at peace. And that I missed you more than I realized after your faked death. Your death could have been another reason why I left Vegas. Which is strange because we weren't that close. We were…you know, friends….friendly…but not that close. Nevertheless when you were gone you left a big hole and I missed you. A lot. Even when I left and went to South America, I thought a lot of you, missed you. More than other people from work."

"They are your friends, you worked with them for eight years."

"I did and they are my friends…but…I don't know. You were special. It took me a while to get to the point of realizing you're not a mole, you're one of the good, one of the best…and when I came to this clue our time together was almost over."

"We get a second chance."

"I intend to use it."

"So do I." Sofia got up and walked to the window. "I hope we can look out of the window tomorrow. It's really a lot of snow that came down and it doesn't look like it will slow down at any point."

"This bad?" Sara followed the other woman. She couldn't see much, it was pitch black outside but with the little light from the hut she saw some snow. Or a lot of snow falling down. Hard, fast, like a punishment.

"Ever saw something like this before?"

"No. It looks like it will never stop. Like the weather made the decision we'll die here because at one point the hut is buried under the snow and we'll suffocate."

"I promise that won't happen, remember, I take care of you?" Sofia smiled softly.

"Right. My detective. Did you think of becoming a detective in England? After all, you have the passport, you can get the paper stuff as well and work as a cop again. It's what you want, what you love."

"Too dangerous. You never know who you arrest, if you get into the news. No, I need to stay hidden, somewhere nobody comes looking for me."

"I found you anyway."

"Yes, you did. And it scares me because…when you end up here accidentally who says a mobster can't?"

"This isn't the place a mobster can make his money."

"He can hide it here."

"Evi doesn't look like Sofia, nobody will realize you were Las Vegas finest cop. If you hadn't dropped your accent when I was somewhere between unconscious and waking up and hadn't said something like you can't call for help again…I don't think I had come to conclusion when we had continued to work together like before."

"I made a mistake…it won't be the last one…and you must think I'm paranoid."

"No, you fear something that can happen. There's no guarantee you'll be safe here and nobody will ever find out who Evi really is. But nobody will come to know about it from me. Never."

"You promised already and I'm too stupid to let go of it."

"It's your life, you should never let go of anything that is important to your life."

"And you should trust your friends."

"Now." Sara embraced Sofia from behind, put her head on the blonde's shoulder. "Who said I'm your friend? Did I ever mention something stupid like that?"

"You did, yes." Sofia laughed.

"Bugger." Sara laughed too. "Why don't I send an email to the HQ, you check on the dogs and we call it a day?"

"Sounds good."

"Do we have to get up early tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Why? We can't do anything."

"We need to call in on time anyway. Sorry, no sleep in. We can call them and go back to bed, watch a movie. The weather won't chance tomorrow, we're locked up in here. I hope we can let the dogs out for a few minutes…but I doubt that will happen."

"Will they be all right with Curtis?"

"I hope so. At one point my baby surely wants to go out and see how big the world is – to come in after a few seconds and get next to the heater." She turned to have a look for the kitten. "Where is he?"

"Under the bed?" Sara got on her knees. "No, not there. Curtis, where are you?"

Sofia checked on the little cave of the cat tree. "No, no kitten. Are you hiding in the wardrobe? No, you can't the doors are closed."

"Maybe we should leave him alone and wait until he comes out."

"Yeah. He has to explore the place, can't go anywhere so he'll be in our sight soon. Okay dokey, you send the mail, I check on the dogs." There was a handle on the wall next to the bed. When Sofia pulled the handle down a little window opened up and she could look into the shed with the dogs.

"Hey guys, sorry to lock you in, it's really nasty outside. You'll be better in here. Have some sleep and if the weather improves you can go out again. If a bear comes along, make a lot of noise so I can help you scare it away. There's no need to fight with it when we have a gun. I want you all save and not injured. Sleep tight, we'll be right next to you. Night." She count the dogs and closed the window. All her babies seemed to be fine.

"Mail sent, we're off for the night."

"Good. Time to get ourselves to bed or do you wanna watch another movie?"

"No. We can't sleep in, there's nothing to do for tomorrow, so we can watch some more movies tomorrow." If there was a tomorrow. With all these snow falling down it was possible tomorrow never happens. At least Sara felt like it.


	13. Chapter 13

In the middle of the night Sara woke up because she heard something. It couldn't be Sofia, the blonde was asleep next to her. The bear? Was it back? Did it try to get in? Attack the dogs? No, they were quiet, it couldn't be the bear. She held her breath for a few seconds before she heard soft steps on soft material. The kitten. It was on the blanket. Probably looking for a warm place. It was very tempting to switch on the lights and have a look but her moving around and the light would scare it. So she had to stay calm, listen a little bit longer for the little cat to come closer and go back to sleep. Maybe it was still there in the morning.

The wind was blowing loud from the outside, the best weather to stay in bed. What time was it? A little bit after two. Four more hours before they had to get up. How long the nasty weather would stay? Sofia guessed at least another day. If they were caught in the hut for longer than a week, or longer than they had food, what would happen to them? Would their team come and save them despite of the weather conditions?

Suddenly she felt like she was under the car again. Trapped. This time it wasn't water that raised, threatened her to drown, it was snow and the thread was suffocating. Both not nice ways to die. If there were such things as nice ways to die. Again it was mother nature who could end her life. Again there was nothing somebody could do. She had to stay here and wait. Wait for the snow to stop, wait for the sun to come out. She could move within the hut, more than she was able to move around under the car, this time she wasn't injured but nevertheless it made her swallow hard and breathe heavier to get the amount of oxygen she needed. Did she get enough? Or was she already suffocating? Why was everything so dark? What happened to the light? The light of the alarm clock. It was gone. Did she already lose conscious? She had to get up, get out of here. Out. Get some air. The chance to breathe. Or she'd die like…

"Sara!" Hands grabbed her and shook her. Automatically she gasped for air like she was drowning. "Breathe! Breathe normal! It's all right, you're fine." Arms got around her and pulled her in. Not too close she didn't have to feeling to suffocate.

"It's all right, you're fine. It was only a dream." Sofia's voice was calm and softly.

"There's no light, we'll suffocate!"

"No, we won't."

"The snow is too high…"

"Sara, we're fine. Nothing happened. We can breathe, no need to worry." Sofia tried to reach the light but couldn't get it without letting Sara out of her arms. "I switch on the light, stay calm, I'm with you." She let go of the brunette, bent over and switched on the light.

As soon as the room wasn't dark anymore Sara's breathing became even. There was sweat all over her body and she looked like she had a nightmare.

"See, you can breathe, I can breathe, everything is fine."

"There was no power, I couldn't see the time of the alarm clock anymore." Sara turned to find the alarm clock turned on. "It was gone…"

"You had a bad dream."

"I was under the car. Trapped. Like we're here now."

"We might be stuck in the hut but we won't die. We'll be fine. If we don't annoy and kill each other we'll be fine and survive. Trust me, it's not the first time I'm out here in this weather. We have no need to worry." Taking the shacking brunette in her arms, Sofia stroke softly over Sara's back. A nightmare. A mixture between a nightmare and fear. She understood that the situation they were in frightened Sara. It did frighten her too when she experienced for the first time a blizzard.

"I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Hey, it's okay. Do you feel a little bit better now?"

"I feel very stupid."

"You're not stupid."

"And I scared the cat away. It was on the bed. I heard it. When it jumped on the blanket, it woke me up."

"He wants to be close to us, it's warmer in here than anywhere else in the room. I'm sure Curtis will come back. Shall we leave the lights on? Do you want something to drink?"

"No…no…I think…we should go back to sleep."

"Wanna stay in my arms? Let the best detective in the world protect you?"

"You're smug again."

"And you can smile again." Sofia grinned, switched off the light and pulled Sara in her arms. "You're save. I take care of you."

"I shouldn't need a babysitter anymore."

"Who said I'm your babysitter? I'm your friend, friends take care of each other."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. If you feel like you're under the car again or trapped or in any other way uncomfortable, wake me up please."

"I hope I can manage to sleep."

"I'm sure you will. Night." Kissing the brunette's hair Sofia closed her eyes. This weather could do a lot of things to you – not only physical. It got on your nerves, it scares you and tries to break you.

* * *

Sara woke up just before the alarm clock rang. Quietly she turned it off and got out of bed without waking Sofia up. The blonde was still asleep and after Sara stole some of her sleep last night, she deserved to sleep in. How embarrassing her behavior was last night. Like a baby. Making a fuss about something that was long over. The night under the car, Nathalie, all things of the past. It was time to get over them.

Leaving the bathroom she walked through the dark room to the window. The snowfall hadn't stopped, the wind was still strong and she had no idea if they could leave the hut through the door in case they had to or if it was blocked by snow.

From Sofia's laptop she checked the security cameras and stopped after a minute. There was nothing to see. They had power but because of the snowfall there were no activities. No animal walked around in this weather. And no hunter either. If anybody did, chances were good that they ended up dead and not the bear or seal they wanted to kill.

What next? It was too early to send a message to Loren and actually, she had to talk to her. Feeding the dogs made too much noise, wake up Sofia. Plan C was…not there. Yet. It had to be quiet, something she didn't need light for…send Greg an Email. They hadn't talked since Sara left, there was no cell phone signal. An email that she was okay and caught in a blizzard. Safe but caught in a blizzard. Not in the village, out with…an English woman. When he came up to visit her, she couldn't take him here. The risk he might recognize Sofia was too big. In case she really moved to here, left the village, it was better he came along before she moved and after that, she should get down to Vegas to see him.

She should tell him she found another friend so he won't worry so much about her anymore. Or better not. In case he wanted to meet Evi. Don't mention her so there couldn't be any questions. Only a colleague. Not worth mention. It was enough she talked about Ryan. Greg could make up some fantasies about him. That was better.

"What are you doing?" Sofia's was still in bed, she hadn't lifted her head.

"I write an email to Greg. Good morning."

"What time…fuck! It's late!"

"No, it's early. You can stay in bed, I checked the cameras already."

"I didn't hear the alarm clock."

"Because I turned it off. We can sleep in today. Stay in bed."

"The dogs…"

"They get their breakfast, don't worry. The weather hasn't changed, they can't go out, we can't work so there's no reason for you to get up."

"When we call the HQ I can't sit in bed."

"I call them, leave the camera off and you can stay where you are. When was the last time you had a day in bed?"

"A long time ago."

"See, stay in, I make breakfast for the dogs and for us, we have a coffee, I call the HQ, we watch a movie and pretend it's holiday time."

"What do you plan?" Suspicious Sofia eyed Sara.

"Nothing. Take it as a thank you for last night."

"I don't know if I can just stay in bed…"

"Of course you can. If they wanna talk to you, you talk."

"I need to change into Evi first."

"No. We leave the camera off. You don't have it on all the time. Stay how you are, Sofia."

"What's wrong with being Evi? She saves my life."

"Sofia is much cooler than Evi. Sofia kicks asses, Evi…talks too poshy."

"That's why she's a good cover." Sofia turned and closed her eyes. It was tempting to stay in bed. Very tempting. There wasn't really anything to do, so she could do it. Take a day off. Stay in bed, eat junk food and watch movies. Like in high school and college.

Her computer beeped, somebody called them.

"Fuck!"

"You go into the bathroom, I answer the call. Without the camera. If they wanna talk to you I tell them you're having a shower and call back later."

"Thanks." Sofia jumped out of bed and vanished in her bathroom.

"It's way too early for the good morning call." Sara greeted Lorne.

"Is that why you leave the camera off?"

"Yeah, I'm in my pajama, without make up and uncombed hair. Not the way I wanna people see me. Poor Evi has to handle me like this."

"Are you both all right?"

"Yeah. The weather is nasty but we're fine. I checked the security cameras, the night was quiet and was about to get the dogs their breakfast."

"Where's the English lady?"

"In the bathroom."

"She takes it slowly today? Must be handy for her to have you over, you take some of her work, eh. Why don't you do the same here?"

"Sorry, I can't leave here for a couple of days. How are the groups?"

"Annoyed they can't come over to see you today. Being stuck in a blizzard wasn't on their list."

"Wasn't on anybody's list. Do you have work for us?"

"No. Only a message from Bruce for you: You're supposed to see him when you're back."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"It's about you changing from here to Evi's place."

"Oh, okay."

"Make up your mind if you really want it, somebody will be very sad when you leave him. He looks not that happy since you've left."

"He'll survive."

"He'll call you later, I'm sure of that. Okay, go and feed the dogs, can't let them starve, eh?"

"No. And I don't forget the little tiger you sent Evi. She is already absolutely in love with him."

"Good to know. She needs some company and a man in her life even when she doesn't want to date men. I'm sure she won't kick this one out."

"No, never."

"Does he have a name already?"

"Curtis."

"Tony Curtis? A real womanizer. Suits him. Give him a hug from me and say hello to Evi."

"Will do. Talk to you later. Say hello to everybody."

"Will do."

Sara ended the connection. "Call is over, you can come back if you want. I feed the dogs."

"Thanks."

Feeding the dogs was more complicated through the window than it was under other circumstances. She couldn't reach the ground so there was no way she could put their bowls down. The water bowl was under the window, she poured water in it, spilled some and made the decision she would just throw the dry food into the shed. It was unlikely the dogs would leave it on ground.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Sofia came out of the bathroom. Black hair, brown eyes.

"What happened to Sofia?"

"She's off duty until after lunch, I will talk to Lorne at lunch time, with the camera on. There's no reason why we should leave it off the whole day. Breakfast?"

"Yes." Sara sighed.

"Hey, I'm still me, even with black hair." Sofia got her arm around Sara.

"I know."

"But?"

"Every time you change into Evi it's like…like I lose Sofia again. I don't wanna lose her again, one time was already too much."

"You're cute." Sofia kissed Sara's cheek. "You won't lose me again. Evi will be here during the morning, in the afternoon it's Sofia again. See it as a way of practice. You're not supposed to forget about the lady from England."

"I don't forget the Pome, I said Evi when I talked to Lorne." Sara pouted.

"Of course you did, you're good." Sofia bopped the brunette. "Don't pout, your face might get stuck like this."

"Very funny, Evi." She bopped the other woman.


	14. Chapter 14

**Part 6**

"So Sara."

"So Bruce." Sara sat down opposite from her boss, her coffee in her hands and watched him amused while he tried to look serious and strict.

"How was your week away?"

"Good. Like I told you last week."

"Right…no problems with Evi?"

"Were we supposed to have some?"

"No, of course not. It's just…she refused to have somebody around before."

"We didn't give her a choice when I just went over and we made the best out of it. It there a problem with it?"

"Yes. No. Of course not."

"What do you want to tell me, Bruce?" Sara leant back. Her boss could just tell her what was on his mind instead of playing stupid games.

"You know I want somebody with her."

"I'm aware of that."

"You're the only one she doesn't refuse to have around."

"So I've been told."

"The problem is, you've got only a contract for six months, getting a new hut there isn't that easy and when you leave us and she refuses to accept somebody else I've to overrule her as I'm her boss – which will piss her off and we'll end up having a fight – so I might lose her too. Then there's the question if you want to stay there. You came from Vegas, this village is quite a change for you, the opposite of what you had for the last years…"

"Bruce, why don't you just sign a new contract for me? Make me stay longer, get me a hut next to Evi's and stop worrying? There's enough work for two, that's why you keep telling her she needs company; plus the safety issue. You give me a new work contract, one that makes me happy, I sign it, I become Evi's company and we're all three happy." Sara smiled when she saw the puzzled look in her boss's face.

"What?"

"You heard me. Make me a good offer."

"I…you…you wanna stay? Go there?"

"Yes."

"Really? Because of the work or because you and Evi…"

"Evi and me are colleagues, maybe even friends. That's it. Don't believe the office gossip all the time. Remember I've an affair with Ryan."

"You do?"

"No! Not in reality only in the gossip world. Like I've no affair with Evi."

"Couldn't blame you. Or her. Apparently she prefers women and you're the best looking woman she has seen in a while."

"Don't flatter me, Bruce. My contract."

"Right. Sorry. You will stay here." He got with his hands through his hair. Office gossip. It was better not to listen to it anymore. Got his thoughts too far away from work, into the private life of his employees and this area wasn't his business.

"Depends on your offer. We haven't worked out what you can offer me. How long will I stay?"

"How long you wanna stay?"

"Make it unlimited and you've a chance to keep me for a long time. You know I'm good, I do good work here and I did a good job over there."

"I assume you want more money."

"A little increase would be nice, yes. And don't forget to mention my days off. When I stay in an ice desert I need a reasonable time a year away, in a warm place, like Las Vegas, so I remember all the time why I don't want to work there anymore."

"Don't push your luck."

"I don't. What do you think? Will we work something out that makes us both happy?"

"I've to talk to some people about this."

"You talked already to some people, Bruce."

"Lorne is a gossip girl."

"She's great, eh?" There was no way Sara could deny she enjoyed this situation. A lot. It didn't matter most of the topics were about her private life, she was much more relaxed here than she was in Vegas.

"Okay. You get your new contract. When do you wanna move over?"

"How long will it take to get me a hut there? One with open fire so I won't freeze my ass off."

"Two weeks or so."

"Good. Get me the hut within the next three weeks. This way I can have my guest over and stay in the village. He might be bored otherwise…no, he'll be bored anyway. It's not like there is some action here."

"Your boyfriend comes over?"

"Better. Much better than a boyfriend. You'll meet him in the bar." Greg had told her he'd be here the next weekend. Sara had to work but she could reduce her hours so they had some time together. What he wanted to do here the whole time was a secret to her, probably he had his PS3 in his backpack and would play the whole day.

"He won't change your mind and make you come with him, will he?"

"No. No need to worry about this."

"Good. I don't like the idea of losing you."

"Give me the new contract and you won't." Sara got up. "Time to go back to work before my boss thinks I'm lazy." With a winning smile she left the office. This went just perfect. A new work contract, more money, a few more days off and soon she'd work with Evi every day while she had dinner with Sofia. Something she looked forward to. And the blonde would enjoy the company too.

* * *

"Wow, that was quick." With one jump Sara was in Greg's arms. His arrival was a surprise, at least the part that he came here so fast. A week ago they talked about his travel to her, picked a date and now he was here – one and a half weeks too early. There had to be a reason, one he hadn't given her on the phone.

"Missed you too much to stay any longer in Vegas." Greg kissed her softly. "Sorry, the excitement and joy." He apologized immediately and his face changed into deep red.

"Next time try one of my cheeks, Greggo." Sara laughed. "Otherwise they won't believe you're not my boyfriend."

"No, I'm not that fortunate." He pulled her closer. "You look good – the few parts of you I can see. Is it always this cold?"

"No, some days it's even colder. Come on in, I've some coffee ready."

"Sounds great." He let her off his arms, took the suitcase and followed Sara. He took the shuttle bus to the village. Three times a week a special shuttle bus ran from the village to the nearest town with a train station, supermarkets and proper streets. Only four wheel drives with chains could come out here and it was the easiest way for him to see Sara.

"How was your trip?"

"Interesting." He looked around her hut. Not much of furniture and decoration, he knew how her apartment in Vegas has looked; almost the same. Making herself a home didn't mean for Sara a lot of furniture, pictures on the wall or a vase on the table. The less you had in your apartment the less you had to take care of and worry about.

"You don't have a lot in your…hut."

"No. I don't need much."

"Only your books." He pointed to the book shelf. "Don't you have a social life? In a place like this I imagine everybody knows everybody and you spend the evenings together."

"You don't find me in the local pub every night."

"Don't tell me you're here all by yourself."

"I'm not. Ryan comes over quite often."

"Right, Ryan. Your affair. Will I meet him?"

"Yes."

"Is he jealous I stay with you?"

"You know he isn't my affair."

"Doesn't mean he isn't jealous." He shot back dryly and took the coffee.

"True. He is." Sara laughed and sat down. "A lot. I told him there's no reason, he doesn't believe me. A man who travels this far and in such an area to see a woman must be more than a friend. Certainly he wants to be more than a friend."

"He has no clue about real friendship."

"He's young he'll learn. How tired are you?"

"I'm fine for a two or three more hours, slept on the plane and on the train to here. Why? Do you have plans with me for tonight?"

"Yes. I wanna take you out for a beer."

"A beer? In this weather?"

"You can order a hot chocolate or a coffee too. The bar has warm and cold drinks."

"I might order a tea. Where will I sleep?"

"In my bed."

He raised his eyebrows. "Where will you sleep?"

"In my bed. There's enough space for two and I know you're a gentleman. Or is this a problem for you?"

"Not at all." He grinned. "I assume the door over there leads to the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"I take a shower, get fresh and we can leave to the bar."

"Okay." She watched him vanish in the bathroom, turned on her laptop and opened her instant messenger.

Greg's here, he hasn't change, still cute. We'll go out for a few beers (he wants tea because it's so cold). How does my hut look? _Because she and Greg wouldn't visit Evi and Sara would try not to mention her, she had to communicate with her when Greg was out of the room. Since Sara was back home they talked every evening on the computer, Sofia stayed the whole time Evi and they never talked about the past they had in common. You never knew who might check on your messages. _

It took only a few seconds before she got a reply. _Glad he arrived safely. Enjoy your time in the bar, you won't have one around when you're here. The huts looks good from the outside like a disaster from the inside. They need a few more days and you need your furniture. Nothing in it so far_.

She was told she needs to get new furniture for her hut. _According to Bruce it will arrive within the next days, I come over next Friday. Do you need anything from the town? I'll take Greg to the train and go shopping after it. _Food shopping. Time to buy a few things she didn't get here and missed.

_I send you a list with things I need, thanks. Curtis meowed hello to you, he misses you._

By the end of the time Sara stayed with Sofia the kitten learnt none of them was a thread to him. He came to them, greeted them when they came inside, jumped on their laps and let them pet him. The fear and shyness were gone.

_I miss him too. Tell him I get something nice for him too._ A lot of Cat treats. Toys, whatever she could find for him.

_What about me?_

_You send me your list._

_I meant do you miss me too?_

Of course she did and Sofia knew it. _Sometimes. Whenever I need a strong tea. _

_Go and take care of your guest, mean woman._

_I will. See you soon, Pome_. Sara closed the program. It was a shame they couldn't tell Greg about Sofia, he'd be very happy to see the former detective alive and they could have a few drinks together, talk a lot. But Sofia's security was more important. It had nothing to do with trust, Sara trusted Greg, it was just the less people knew about Sofia the safer it was.


	15. Chapter 15

"This Ryan guy doesn't have a crush on you." Greg held the door open for Sara.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"One day you'll come back to Vegas."

"I will. Next year to see you."

"Or I come up here and see you again."

"No, I'll live three hours away from here then, it's too complicated to come over plus there's nothing you could do. I mean, this." She pointed to the village outside her window. "Isn't much. You can walk around and have seen all huts within a quarter of an hour, stroll through the supermarket, another five minutes if you read the label of all groceries maybe half an hour more. But at least there are people around to talk, my new work place is in an ice dessert."

"Why do you go there?"

"You know me, I like to be away from people."

"That's not true. Not anymore."

"It's an interesting job and I come in contact with animals."

"Talking about animals, when will you take me out for a ride on the sled?"

"After work tomorrow."

"Great. So while you work I'll have a walk around the village, go shopping, prepare some dinner and play with my PS3."

"Yes." Sara grinned. "You wanted this kind of holidays."

"Can't see anything bad about it. Ryan wants to join me later. First he wants to race us. Will we kick his ass?"

"No. You have to do that later on the Playstation."

"I can do that."

"Good. Get into the bathroom, I prepare everything for tomorrow."

"All right. A night next to Sara Sidle, if I tell the boys…wham I'll be king of the lab!"

Sara furrowed her brows. Some things in a man's life seemed to mean more than it did to women. A night next to her. Why was it that special? After all nothing would happen, they both knew it and both didn't want anything to happen. So why the fuss? She spent over a week next to Sofia and couldn't remind the blonde was excited about it. She had been happy having Sara around after the shock of the Evi identity and worrying about Sara telling anybody, a part of Sofia had still doubts about it, Sara was sure about this. She was and would always be a thread.

"Are you dreaming of me already?" Greg stepped behind Sara and embraced her, kissing her earlobe.

"No. Sorry."

"What a pity. Can I do anything? Finish something?"

"No, all done. Time for you to get into my bed, boy."

"I've been waiting to hear this for eleven years. Finally. Yes!"

"Crazy boy." She shook her head, grabbed her sleeping clothes and went into the bathroom. Two hours in the bar and Greg knew half of all the people, had talked to them like he had been here before and went on very good with Ryan. Some good news. This way her friend wouldn't stay alone for a long time when he walked around the village when she was at work. Her last days in the HQ. There was some excitement. Would she and Sofia really get along good enough to work without any trouble? Well, it was too late to change anything now, wasn't it? Her hut was almost ready, she had signed the new contract, there was no way back. It had been her wish, now she had to live with it.

"Do you need some water for the night?" Sara asked when she was back in her main room.

"No, thanks."

"Okay." She turned off the lights and slipped next to Greg. "Happy to be next to me?"

"Over the moon." He pulled her in his arms. "My dreams came true. Again."

"Good. And now tell me why you're here earlier than we've planed."

"Huh?"

"You heard me, don't give me any bullshit, I want the truth. Why did you come here early?"

"My days off got moved."

"By whom? Grissom?"

"No." There was a pause.

"What?"

"He doesn't work anymore with the crime lab."

"I beg your pardon?" Did she hear correct? Grissom didn't work with the crime lab anymore? The lab had been his life. The place where he was happier, happier than…we could have been with her. All these weeks she had waited for him to leave Vegas and come to her, nothing happened because he couldn't leave the lab. Why was he gone now? Who made him leave? Was it his decision or had he no other choice? Must be like this. Somebody, most likely Ecklie, made him leave.

"He isn't with the lab anymore. He left…after Warrick died."

"Oh."

"Shortly after the funeral, he was with us for a few more weeks and then he left." Greg knew why Sara and Grissom split, he knew she waited for him to make a decision, to come to her and her patience wasn't successful. It hurt her to hear he left. Not because of her.

"To where?"

"Chicago. It was a hard time. For him. For all of us. First…first Holly dies, then Nick gets kidnapped, Brass almost died on duty, you get kidnapped, Sofia dies, Warrick dies. So many bad things on our shift."

"You got almost killed too."

"Yes. It wasn't easy. At one point he left. Nobody knows exactly why, he never said a word. You know him; better than anybody else does."

Sara wasn't sure about that. Not anymore. Apparently there were reasons for Grissom to leave his lab. Other reasons then being with his fiancé. Something was more important to him than she had been. Or it was just the time he couldn't take it any longer. She couldn't blame him, she did the same.

"Cath is the new supervisor now."

"And she sent you here earlier because?"

"Because I messed up big time."

"What did you do?" It seemed to be impossible for Sara to believe Greg could mess up something big times. He made small mistakes, he made one big mistake when he was a trainee, used the toilet at a crime scene, after that he never made any bigger mistake.

"I met a girl…she was in one of these groups who visit the lab and…she was wow…Nick made me ask her for her cell phone number. I got it, we met after my shit, had a few drinks, stayed until we were kicked out the restaurant…the night didn't end there. She was great, I was head over heels in love. We met again, I caught her looking at my files. She promised, she wasn't looking, she lied. At the end it became obvious she was the serial killer we were after. Stupid me went to a diner to see her, she almost got me killed there, left a message she'd be at the bus station to catch the bus to Los Angeles. Finally I got a grip, called Cath, told her about Ellen's planed departure, went there. She told me it was all the idea of her ex, he had forced her to do so. Bullshit. She had been the head of the team. She killed three men because seventy years ago their grandfathers were a reason why grandparents died. It was revenge. And I was too blind to see it from the beginning, let her play me. The last thing she told me was, she loved me since Tuesday, the day we met. Hard to believe.

So to make a long story short: Cath and me decided it's the best when I take my few days off earlier, get my head free and come back in old shape. Most bosses had fired or suspended me after all these things I've done wrong.

I messed it up big times."

"Sounds like it. Unfortunately when you fall for somebody you tempt to be blind."

"Love at first sight…should have known it's not possible."

"Unlikely." Sara snuggled into him, got her arm over his chest, put her head on his shoulder. "Is there anything I can do or say?"

"No. I've to work this out for myself. Some time and I'll be fine again. There will be a woman for me, one that doesn't lie and isn't a serial killer."

"Not all women are serial killer."

"No…after you don't date Ryan I can fall for you again."

"There are a couple of miles between us, don't you wanna fall for a woman who lives in the same city as you? And more important, who feels the same for you?"

"Hey, I'm in your bed, you're snuggled into me, I'd say I'm in a good position."

"Not when you plan to become my lover. Sorry." She kissed his cheek.

"One day you'll lose your heart again, Sara. Not to me but you will and you'll find somebody who makes you happy. One day, we'll both be happy and have a wonderful dinner with our lovers, fiancés or spouses. We only need to be patient."

"We can do that." She smiled.

"Absolutely. Do you want to know more? About Ellen…Grissom…or anybody else?"

"Not now. Maybe tomorrow. I heard a lot of things, I need to think about them for a while. We have some more time, you stay a little bit longer."

"I do." He kissed her hair. "I'm glad I will."


	16. Chapter 16

"Madame Evi, what can I do for you?" Sara smiled when Sofia's face made up as Evi appeared on her screen. It was almost time to go home.

"Miss Sidle, I thought I tell you that your future bathroom is ready to use. The men finished it today. You're almost good to move in. Any second thoughts? Do you regret the decision already?"

"No I'm still happy with my decision. What about you? Do you regret the fact you'll have a neighbor soon?"

"No, not at all. Listen, can you do me a favor when you're in town?"

"Sure. What shall I do?"

"I want to order a few things online, can you pick them up at the central post office?"

"Of course, no problem at all."

"Thanks. How is your guest?"

"He's fine. The cold weather isn't his cup of tea as he's from San Diego but he enjoys his stay. He and Ryan have competitions on the Playstation every night. I'm afraid I end up buying a Playstation for Ryan when I get Greg to the train. Lucky me he has to look for somebody else to play it with him."

"What if I order one for us?"

"Why would you do that?"

"For our entertainment. Or do you prefer a Wii?"

"I don't care."

"I might order one of these things. You have to buy decoration, your hut will be basic. Like they put in a king size bed for you and you have to buy the beddings. Same for the kitchen. A new hut, you have to get our own stuff."

"Bruce ordered it already, it's all done and will arrive the day after tomorrow."

"Service, Nice."

"Absolutely."

"Sara, are you ready…? Oh, hey Evi, how are you?" Ryan sat next to Sara.

"Good, how are you? Did you win or lose against Greg?"

"I won; sometimes. You should join us."

"Somebody has to work."

"Yeah, lame excuse. Sara, are you coming?"

"Five more minutes. You can go ahead, tell Greg to finish our dinner."

"Sweet as. Talk to you later, Evi."

"Bye bye Ryan." Sofia waited until Ryan's left the room. "Two new best pales?"

"They go along very good, yes."

"The next time Greg might visit Ryan and you can come to town and see him too."

"The next time I see Greg is in Vegas. Makes things much easier for us and I…I miss the sunshine and warm weather." Sara looked apologetic. Sunshine and warm weather. There were some more important things Sofia missed, like her parents and friends.

"I can understand that. Maybe I should have a trip to England the next time I've a few weeks off. Can't be this long, when you're here I'm free to go for a while. Or travel all over Europe."

"Stay with me, be my company, prepare my dinner and clean my hut." Offered Sara.

"No thanks. Nice try. Okay, I won't keep you away from your guys, have a nice evening."

"You too. I look forward to see you soon and I bring some beer for us, we can have a barbecue…do you have barbecues in England?"

"What a stupid question to ask." Sofia laughed. "Get plenty of beer, good meat, some veggies for you and we'll have a hell of a barbecue…and don't forget the English breakfast tea. English. Nothing else. All the other teas don't taste as good as our tea."

"Without Asterix you and your fellow English people would still drink hot water at five in the afternoon."

"It's four and I don't want to talk to you about English culture, you've no clue about it. Good night Sara."

"Night Evi. See you soon." Sara blinked at Sofia. She did a quite good job mention all the time the alibi name. Not once she had called her Sofia. Even when they talked on the computer when Sara was home, it was Evi all the time. Just like they had agreed on.

* * *

"Hey Greg, what do you think of exchanging beds for tonight? You can have mine and I take yours." Ryan offered with a smirk.

"Nice try, won't happen."

"Why not? A hut all for yourself, doesn't sound that good?"

"A space in Sara's bed, having her in my arms, falling asleep with her, wake up next to her, that sounds great to me. And that's exactly what you're after. You want a night with my woman, you won't get it."

"Your woman? She's my affair." Ryan laughed. "Or Evis, depends on who you ask."

Sara rolled her eyes. Why did Ryan mention Evi? For what reason? She had managed to leave her out of their conversation for the whole time Greg was here and now Ryan made it sound like Sara had not told Greg something very important. Well, she hadn't but not because she didn't want to, she had no other choice. Evi/Sofia was nothing they were supposed to discuss. Like Sara hadn't talked about Sofia's death. They talked about Warrick's death and that was it.

"Who is Evi?"

"She hasn't told you about our English lady? She'll live with her very soon."

"No, she hasn't." Greg looked at Sara.

"Evi works three hours away from here by sled. She makes sure nobody hunts the animals, marks them and some get a chip so we can see where they are."

"And you'll do this too?"

"Yes."

"Evi didn't wanna have anybody else than Sara around." Ryan grinned.

"If I could choose I'd choose her as well. I can't see why she should have an affair with this woman."

"Evi doesn't like men."

"So? Just because she doesn't date men it doesn't mean she dates every woman she sees. I mean, Sara is the best she could get but I doubt her requests would be accepted. She was engaged to a man, she dated this jerk of a emergency dickhead, all the years I know her, she never dated a woman. Or did you not tell me everything?"

"I certainly didn't tell you everything, Greggo. Apart from that, I never dated a woman, no. You were right, there was the dickhead and Grissom. That's it. So no, Ryan, I don't date Evi and I have no intentions to date her. I wanna work with her, end of the story."

"Good. You're my affair and I don't want to share you."

"Dude, you've got some strange ideas." Greg shook his head. "Too much office gossip, I reckon."

"Another reason why I leave, I hate gossip."

"Will I meet this Evi woman?"

"I doubt she'll come with me to Vegas."

"Maybe one evening on the computer. Just because you change your job position it doesn't mean we won't have contact anymore, does it?"

"We'll continue talking like we did before." Sara hugged Greg.

"Good."

"What about me?"

"If you don't annoy me I might talk to you too, Ryan."

"When did I ever annoy me?"

"The whole first two weeks."

"Oh, come on Vegas."

"That was one of the reasons why you annoyed me."

"Vegas? You're not a Vegas woman. You're from California."

"Land of the fruits and nuts." Ryan comment dry and earned a few evil looks.

"Careful boy, we both might not live there anymore but we're still Californians."

"Now you're in Alaska, quite the opposite of your golden state. And Sara will stay. She swiped sunshine for snowfall and long hot summers for long cold winters. You for me."

"He's looking for trouble, isn't he?" Greg looked at Sara.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Shall we give him what he asks for?"

"We should." They got up, grabbed Ryan's arms and pulled him out of the hut. Together they managed to wrestle him down and started rubbing snow into his face and shoveled a few hands under his pullover on his back. No matter how much Ryan screamed and fought, they were stronger and continued their revenge. The next time he'd think first and then talk.

* * *

"You can still change your mind." Greg's hand ran softly over Sara's back.

"No, I can't" Their last night together, the last night he stayed here. In the morning Sara would drive him to the town and had to say goodbye. Nothing she looked forward to do. It was good having Greg around, she got used to see him, talk to him every day, so fast. It was like they had never been apart. Like they still worked together. She gave this up. She gave her friends up. Was it worth it? Was it the best decision to stay here? Did she belong here? Or was her destiny Las Vegas? The life of a CSI.

"Of course. Just pack your things and come with me. Cath will give you your job back, we can work together again, solve crimes and have fun. There's no reason to stay here. Or is it because of your history with Grissom?"

"No…no I don't think so. Although I've to say it would be strange to be back, without him. All the memories…no, no I can't go back to Vegas. Not at this time and I'm not sure if there'll ever be a time when I want to be back, when Vegas will be good for me. Like you said, so many things have happened the last years. Too many things."

"Will this place make you happy?"

"I don't know. So far it is good for me."

"Okay. You will come for a visit or shall we meet somewhere else?"

"I come to Vegas. There are a few people I want to say hello to."

"Will you have any contact with Grissom?"

"No. We didn't have any contact for over two years, it's over and I won't try to get back to old times. It wasn't meant to be, I can live with this. There's a reason why I'm here and he's not with me."

"Maybe. You believe in faith?"

"No, I believe things happen for a reason, happen because we do something to make them happen. Grissom and me separated because I left, I left because I couldn't bear Las Vegas and the crimes anymore. It had nothing to do with him. At least I thought so. Now when I look back I wonder if I left because our relationship seemed to go nowhere, I knew it came to a point and wouldn't go further. We were too much alike. Which is great to a point. For a long relationship it's better when you're with somebody who isn't like you. Somebody, who can surprise you."

"Somebody who takes you out to a picnic because you have stayed long enough inside, gives you something that has nothing to do with work and makes you see things you haven't seen before?"

"Yes."

"You won't get another lab guy."

"I doubt it."

"An Eskimo?"

"You never know. But when he starts hunting seals we'll have fights. It has to be a vegetarian Eskimo."

"Or somebody who explores the Artic, takes you with him only to save enough money so you both can have a few weeks in South America and warm up again."

"Sounds good. What about your dream woman? How is she supposed to be? Not a serial killer, we worked that one out."

"No." Greg laughed. "Not another Ellen. Somebody who works nights and understand the hours we pull. You think I should try to look for a woman in the internet? Online dating?"

"Most people would laugh at this idea." She snuggled into his arms. "I think it's worth a try. You never know until you haven't tried. A lot of couples found themselves on the internet, the good thing is, you can look for somebody with your interests. When you share a few it's better and she loves skydiving and parasailing you might explore a new hobby too."

"Sounds adventurous. I could go for this kind of woman. Or a surfer, we can escape to the beach every couple of weeks. Gets me out of Vegas, gets my head off work."

"Do you want to look or let her find you?"

"Both. Why only take fifty percent when you can have one hundred? I look and let her find me. Do you help m choose? If I send you my top ten."

"So you can blame me at the end? No, your love life is your cup of tea, you have to handle it yourself. I'm willing to tell you if I like whoever you choose, but you choose first. And we can meet for dinner when I'm in Vegas."

"What kind of big sister are you? Leave it all to me."

"A good one. Get Nick to help you."

"Nick? He talked me into Ellen. No, he isn't any help. Besides, he's single himself and will only try to steal the good ones away."

"The perfect woman for you won't be interested in Nick."

"The perfect woman is you. All others are only replacements."

"I got replaced by a serial killer. Something I need to think of."

"Let me know tomorrow morning what to which conclusion you came." He kissed her hair and closed his eyes. The last night with Sara, the last time for a while before they'd see each other again. Why couldn't time just stand still so they could keep this moment?


	17. Chapter 17

**Part 7**

"Welcome home." Sofia pulled Sara in her arms.

"Thanks." Sara smiled. Home. Her new home. A hut in the middle of nowhere. Time to make this little place her own.

"How was the trip?"

"Good. No problems. It was a little bit strange to leave the village, Ryan waved me goodbye and Bruce mumbled something like, I'm supposed to call in twice a day. Only because we're two now it doesn't mean they don't want to know we're all right. He worries about us so I smiled and promised him, we'll stay in touch."

"Isn't it cute how they worry? Our Alaska family. What do you think of your new home?"

Sara took a look around. The hut wasn't big, maybe five by five. A king size bed on one wall, a television, a desk with a computer, two chairs, a table, a kitchenette a book shelf, a cupboard, a wardrobe, a window like Sofia's hut had so she could check on her dogs, the bathroom door and…another door. What was this door for?

"To where goes the door over there?" If Sara wasn't completely wrong this side of the hut was built next to Sofia's, it shouldn't go anywhere.

"That is a connecting door. We don't have to walk through the cold weather to see each other. I like it."

"It's like we share an apartment."

"Not good?"

"This close to you? Why would I want that?" Sara smirked.

"Because you moved here to be with me. Besides, we can lock the door, then we have to get out and knock on the front door. In case you want some privacy when you have male visitors. How often will Ryan come over? And this other lad, what was his name again? Tony?"

"Shut up!"

"I heard some really interesting stories about you and him."

"Do you want me to kick you out within the first five minutes I live here?"

"Why so aggressive?"

"You talk bullshit."

"I repeat office gossip."

"According to this gossip I'm having an affair with Ryan and you. Gossip is another word for lies."

"Don't forget Evi dates only women, there must be a reason why she wants you here."

"I promised Greg I'll never date Evi. She has to accept my decision."

"She will, I'm sure of that. You talked with Greg about Evi?"

"Ryan mentioned I move here and that apparently I've an affair with Evi. Gossip. I explained it to Greg, he asked if he'd meet this Evi one day, I said that's not very likely because when I've my days off she has to work and the other way around. He wants to talk to her on the computer, make sure this woman is good for me."

"We can do that, a few sentences, not more."

"Sorry for that."

"That's okay, I expected something like this. Greg worries about you. You live with somebody he doesn't know, there's nobody else around, if this person is a psycho, he has to save you. I assume Ryan will come along to see you every now and then?"

"Might happen."

"He wants to share a bed with you."

"Won't happen. I don't share my bed with everybody."

"You shared my bed with me." Sofia grinned.

"It was the warmest choice."

"You snuggled into my arms, you like me Sara. You came here because of me, not because of the work."

"Says who?"

"The evidence."

"Bollocks."

"True. Are you happy you see me?"

"No."

"Liar, liar pants on fire."

"Child." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "Of course I came here because of you. This is my chance to work with you again. A chance I thought I'd never have again. Don't ruin it, Sofia."

"You work with Evi not with Sofia."

"Evi, Sofia, short black hair, long blond hair, it's always the same person. You. To me you're always the same person, no matter how I call you."

"Don't get sentimental, that's so not like you, Sara."

"Maybe I've changed."

"Did you?" Sofia cocked her head.

"No." Sara laughed. "Get out of my hut, bitch!"

"Sara Sidle alive and kicking." Sofia hugged Sara. "I'm glad you're here. Thanks for that. I appreciate it and I looked forward to this day the last weeks."

"You'll be my supervisor, if you make me do all the shitty work you're in trouble."

"We'll do the same work. You're supposed to learn everything, that includes shitty work and great work. And I want your support for my ideas."

"What kind of ideas?"

"Whatever comes to my mind."

"I hear your ideas first and then I decide if I support them or not. Who knows what silly ideas you might have in your head."

"Only good ones."

"I'm not sure about that."

"My first idea is, we have dinner now."

"That's an idea I support, I'm starving. What did you cook?"

"Sushi."

"Sushi?"

"Vegetarian sushi of course. Come on, lets use this great connecting door."

"I'm not sure if I like them…they make you way too close to comfort."

"I can't be too close to comfort for you, Sara." Sofia grinned and got her arm around Sara's shoulders. If they teased each other instead of bitching around it was perfectly fine with her.

* * *

"How was your first day at your new work place, Miss Sidle? Are you happy with your new colleague, the new supervisor and the new challenges?" Sofia asked after they left the work hut and stood in front of their huts.

"Well." Sara unlocked her hut, pulled Sofia inside. "All these things you mentioned lead to you so I can answer your hidden question straight forward: I like working with you, Sofia." She grabbed the wig and pulled it off. "Evi can stay in the work hut, we don't need her here. I told you I like the blond hair more."

"Are you removing my lenses now as well?" A little bit confused that she was scalped Sofia looked at the wig in Sara's hand.

"No, I leave that to you." She handed the wig over. "Do you have dinner with me?"

"If you want. I mean maybe you're sick of me after eight hours of work and want some time on your own."

"No. I'd like to have dinner with you. And Curtis. Did you lock our door?"

"No, why should I? You can come over whenever you feel like it."

"Good. Neither did I." Sara opened the connecting door. The kitten sat in front of it. "I knew I heard a meow. Hey tiger, how are you?" She lifted the kitten, kissed its head and cuddled it. "You're so sweet and silky. It's so great to see you every day. And you know what? After you had your dinner I give you a little gift I bought for you when I took Greg to town."

"He gets a gift? What about me?" Sofia grinned.

"Your gift is me being here with you."

"Oh." The blonde pretended to be disappointed.

"You couldn't have asked for a better one." Sara's computer rang; or her telephone program. "I bet that is Greg, curious to know how my first day was."

"Probably."

"He wants to see and talk to Evi…I tell her she's in her hut."

"We can just do it now and then he's happy. Answer your call, I turn myself back into Evi after you ripped off my hair."

Sara smiled apologetic. Maybe her reaction had been too…much. But she preferred the blonde Sofia over the brunette Evi. Even when it was the same person. Sofia was more…she was Vegas, made her feel at home.

"Don't you have some work to do?" She greeted Greg.

"I'm working, I check on you. Switch on your camera, I want to see you."

"You know how I look."

"Not after your first day at work."

"Yes you do, you were there when I started in Vegas." Laughing she switched on the camera. "Say hello to my new best friend, the great and dangerous tiger." Softly she stroke Curtis's fur. "Isn't he a beauty?"

"He is. Since when do you have a cat?"

"He belongs to Evi."

"Where is she? I want to see this mysterious woman who will be with you night and day."

"I do have my own hut, Greg."

"Right. So, where is she? Don't tell me I won't get to know her."

"In her hut, let me get her for you." She placed Curtis in front of the camera. "Take care of my tiger, he needs a lot of love and affection – like every man." With another kiss on the cat's head she got up.

"He certainly is a lucky cat, he gets kisses." Greg mumbled. He didn't see much of the hut from the angle of the camera. The kitchenette and that was all. It looked like the hut Sara lived in before, apparently they looked all the same. Not very exciting.

"Greg, say hello to Evi. Evi, that's Greg, I told you about my crazy colleague and friend from Las Vegas."

"Good evening." Sofia sat on the edge of the chair. "How are you?"

"Hey Evi, I'm fine. Are you taking care of my Sara?"

"I'm sure she can take care of herself."

"That what she tries to tell me all the time, don't believe her. I want you to have an eye on her, she's special and I want her back in one piece."

"As far as I know, she doesn't want to go back to Las Vegas and be a CSI."

"She might change her mind. Until she does she'll be a guest. Don't you want to join her? I've some space for you too."

"No, thanks. This lad is cheeky." Sofia smiled and looked at Sara.

"He is."

"Does he flirt all the time?"

"Yes. He likes brunettes."

"Oh, interesting. Sorry to disappoint you, Greg, I don't date lads. Apart from having the wrong sex you don't have long blond hair, you're so not my type."

"Ouch, she's straight forward…and I love this accent, very sexy. Do all people in England talk like you?"

"Depends on the area you go to."

"She speaks so poshy, I bet secretly she's part of the royal family." Sara chuckled.

"A princess. And she doesn't want a prince. This could be a modern fairytale…long blond hair. Sorry Sara, you're out, you won't be the princess for her. Not that you wanted to be the one."

"Exactly."

"Sooner or later we'll find a guy for you too. Even it will be difficult from where you are now. You should think about internet dating."

"This gets too private for me. I leave you alone and prepare some dinner. Where's my baby tiger?"

"Look at the moving blanket on my bed, this should answer your question." Sara grinned. Curtis had made his way under the blanket and were about to find his perfect hideout for a little cat nap.

"This guy knows where to go."

"I taught him." Sofia got up. "Enjoy Sin City, Greg. Nice talking to you."

"Likewise. You can join our conversation more often if you like."

"I think I leave them to you and Sara, it's your quality time. Bye bye."

"Bye." He waved.

"Dinner should be ready in half an hour." Sofia blinked at Sara.

"Okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Sara sat down. "Satisfied? You know with whom I work, do you think she's all right?"

"She's hot. Saying this, guess who has a date."

"That was quick."

"Yeah…guess where I met her."

"The internet? Probably you spent the last days in front of your computer, checking out all the web pages about dates and singles."

"Wrong."

"Oh, so where did you meet her?"

"At work."

"At work? Who?"

"She cleans. Stupid me threw away something I needed, when I realized the cleaner had gone through my office, cleaned everything and my folder was gone. I asked her where they take the paper trash, she helped me looking for it. For over an hour until we found my folder. Not everybody spends an hour of their spare time digging in rubbish to get a folder a confused guy threw out. I invited her to dinner, we talked a lot and…she's great. Really smart and interested in our work. My work.

Anyway after Ellen I checked on her, she is the one she says she is. There is no piece of evidence she lied at any time and she has been with the lab for over a year. The last months in another story that's why I never saw her before. You have to come to Vegas soon, check her out and give me your okay."

"Didn't Cath offer to do that? Check her for you?"

"She did." Greg blushed. "Jenny is all right."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-nine. She's a nurse…was a nurse in Mexico. It's not that easy to get all the paperwork done to work in your old job when you come to the states. Translating all the documents costs a lot of money, she tries to earn this money with her job at the lab. Plus you need to get through a couple of tests, about language and whatever. She did that and when everything works out she can work as a nurse in a few months."

"Sounds like you are happy."

"I am. Well, I'm a little bit suspicious and careful after the last…not so good experience."

"Don't let one bad experience ruin everything. You like that woman, her story is real, give it a try."

"I will. Are you jealous? A tiny little bit?"

"No."

"Oh come."

"Sorry Greggo."

"I get you a picture the next time, her smile is wow. Oh and I'm about to send you a parcel. What do you miss from Vegas? Apart from me of course."

Sara laughed. "Why do you send me a parcel with Vegas things?"

"Because you're far away and need some things that reminds you of home. Well, home for over eight years. So, what do you want?"

"Surprise me."

"I can do that." He grinned. It wasn't like he hadn't already a couple of ideas on his mind. All he needed to know if there were some specific things Sara wanted.


	18. Chapter 18

"Smells good."

"Tofu soup, hot and spicy."

"I didn't know you are into cooking. Or is that Evi?"

"Maybe. Want to rip off my hair again?"

"Why don't you do that by yourself? Turn yourself into the woman Evi would fall for. A blonde with long hair."

"They are sexy." Sofia grinned. "Don't you think so?"

"Let me think about it…Hank was blond…so…no. Sorry."

"He ruined it for all blondes? Not fair. Here, keep stirring and have an eye on the bread in the oven, while I turn into this magnificent blonde, people dream of."

"So arrogant." Sara shook her head. "Smuggy."

"Adorable and irresistible." Sofia vanished in her bathroom.

"She hasn't changed a bit." Sara mumbled and smiled. It was good being with Sofia. No matter how often these words had crossed her mind the last days, they were true. It meant a lot to her to be with her. It meant…reminded her of good old times. Times when they all were happy, everything seemed to be all right.

Was she happy now? As happy as should could be, she reckoned. Her situation didn't offer her many choices, she picked the one that was best for her. Be with somebody she knew, she trusted, could rely on. Ryan was fun, she enjoyed her time with him, he made her laugh but Sofia…they had a history and after running away from Vegas and everything that reminded her of it, she was at a point when she wanted to face this history and the things that had happened then. Good and bad ones.

"Since when do you like your bread deep brown?" Sofia rushed to the oven, opened it and a big dark cloud came out. "Fuck!" Immediately she closed the oven, ran to the smoke detector and covered it with a pillow. "Can you open the window? We need the…" The loud beep of the smoke detector stopped the blonde's sentence. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" She got the batteries out while Sara opened the window.

"Sorry…I…"

"Get on the computer, call whoever is there and tell them, it's only burnt bread. They don't have to come over and save us."

"Okay…sorry…" Sara turned off the oven, pulled the soup pot aside and got into her hut. Luckily she left her computer on, got into the intranet and sent whoever was still there a message they were all right, the smoke detector had only reacted to the burnt bread. Bread that was burnt because she had been dreaming. Silly her. Sofia told her to watch the bread. Why couldn't she focus on things she was told to do? No wonder Sofia was pissed off.

Frustrated with herself she read the reply from the HQ and saved herself a snippy comment on the amused comment they should get some real women out to bake bread. It was her fault, she and her thoughts. They always took over and made her forget what was important. What was wrong with her and her head? Why could she only focus when it came to work? She was perfect at work and a disaster in private life. Always had.

"Are you okay?" Sofia was behind her, a hand on Sara's shoulder.

"Yeah…I'm sorry. Really. I've no idea how…I'm so stupid…it's…"

"Hey." Sofia pulled her in her arms. "Nothing happened. We won't have bread with our soup, that's it. Nothing to worry about."

"I ruined our dinner and got us in trouble."

"You gave them a reason to laugh at us, nothing I care about. Do you?"

"Aren't you mad? For…the mess."

"No. I was just a little bit stressed because I didn't want the detector to go off. We have to be really fast to tell the guys we're fine or they sent the fire fighters to us. That would make our dinner really, really expensive."

"Maybe I should stay away from…everything."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because…I'm too stupid to make dinner."

"The last times you made dinner it was perfect and nothing happened. Stop blaming yourself for something that could have happened to everybody. Come on, we deserve some food – so does our tiger, I'm sure he was scared about the noise and needs some ham now."

"Sorry Curtis…I didn't mean to scare you."

"He knows that." Sofia got her arm around Sara. "Come on, he'll join us as soon as we've our soup. Your or my hut? Mine is a little bit smoky and fresh…"

"We eat here, this way I'll ruin my place and not yours."

"One more stupid comment like that and I kick you out in the snow and push your head in it until you start thinking again. It happened, nothing bad happened, we can forget it."

"Okay. Thanks." Sara smiled a bit.

"You work on that smile and everything is fine…and get me a gift the next time you're out for a shopping trip in town."

"Deal." Sara sighed. What a start in her new life.

"What did Greg tell you? Any news?"

"There are a few news I haven't told you about."

"Oh, tell me! Tell me!"

"First food then gossip."

"I can eat and listen to gossip at the same time." Sofia grinned. Good gossip made food even better. She placed bowls on the table and got the can with cat food for Curtis. When her kitten had his dinner she sat down with Sara and started eating herself.

"So? Give me some hot and spicy gossip."

"There are so many things I haven't told you…work or private life gossip first?"

"Work and the good stuff as dessert."

"Catherine is the new supervisor."

"What happened to Grissom? Don't tell me Ecklie found a way to demote him."

"No, he left because he wanted it this way."

"Why?"

"I've no idea."

"He's an idiot!"

"Huh?" Surprised Sara looked at Sofia.

"Oh come on, please. He stayed when you left, he ruined your relationship by not making a decision – or decided against you – and now he leaves? Couldn't he work out earlier that he doesn't want to stay forever in Las Vegas? He lost his fiancé for a job he gave up anyway. Call however you want, I call it plain stupid."

"I'm sure he had his reasons."

"Are you still in love with him?"

"What?" Sara's jaw fell down. Did Sofia really ask if she was still in love with Grissom?

"Are you still in love with him?"

Yes she did. "No!"

"Good. Stop defending him. He hurt you, he acted stupid, there are no reasons to call it anything else than it is. Apparently he loved you, he asked you to marry him but he doesn't leave a job to be with you?"

"You can also say I left the man I wanted to marry. The man I wanted by my side for so many years. Stupid me."

"You left for a reason. You told me if you had stayed it hadn't been good for you or him. He stayed because he was scared of a life he didn't know. The lab, work, is all he knows. The life of a husband is new, is a thread. He didn't make a decision because he was cowardly. It wasn't your fault."

"I could have tried harder to stay."

"What for? I'm sure you tried as long as possible,"

Sara bit her lips. She did. Yes, she did. When she left it was the last thing she could do. There was no other choice, staying in Vegas had meant it had been too painful for her. In the state she had been she wasn't a good fiancé, worker or future wife. She was a wreck and going away was the only way to safe her.

"It seems to be unfair to blame it all on him."

"Let me be unfair, I blame him. But we can change the topic here if you want. He's in Chicago, you're here and I'm very happy it's not the other way around. You're much more fun."

"There was a time when I thought you had a crush on him."

"Me? On Grissom? Never! He is an amazing entomologist, knows a lot about CSI work, but I've never been interested in him in any sexual way. No." Sofia shook her head. That was a crazy idea. He was old enough to be her…much older brother.

"Oh. Okay. Sorry. Topic change. Cath is involved with Vartann…that's not office anymore I guess."

"No. Good choice. He's a nice guy."

"Yes. For a while I thought something is going on between her and Nick after Warrick got married – which didn't make her happy, you could see that."

"Warrick was a man you could have some fantasies about. I can't believe McKeen shot him. I had no clue he was…is not better than any other criminal I locked up." Hadn't he told her she had a great future in the department? These words became worthless after what he did to Warrick.

"It was a shock for all of us, I think."

"Who is Nick seeing?"

"Nobody."

"A good looking guy and nobody wants to have him? Seems impossible."

"Any regrets about things you haven't tried?"

"Who said I haven't tried and didn't succeed?" Sofia grinned.

"You didn't. His hair isn't long."

The blonde laughed. "True. No. He is worth a sin but you don't fool around with your colleagues. A serious relationship is difficult enough, you don't need affairs."

"Tell me about it."

"And away from Grissom back to another topic. Next gossip news. Greggo. What has he been up to? He's over you, was in heaven when he spent a week with you in the same bed and has to find a woman who can top this. You raised the bar very high, I wonder if there's somebody who can live up to you. Somebody who gets his thoughts and secret crush away from you. Must be a superwoman."

"A nurse who works as a cleaner." Sara smiled.

"Really? How did he meet her?"

Sara told Sofia Greg had told her and the blonde laughed.

"That's so Greg. Throwing a file away he needs. Clumsy. Did anybody find out?"

"No, they kept it as their personal secret."

"Okay. You're replaced by a younger woman, how does that feel?"

"If she makes him happy it feels very good. After Ellen he can use somebody who is honest and doesn't use or play him."

"True. He'll keep you posted about their dates. Will you meet her when you're in Vegas?"

"I guess so. It's important to him I do."

"And you do this favor for him, that's nice. You can be really nice." Sofia cocked her head.

"What do you mean with I can be really nice? Am I not nice all the time?"

"No."

"Hey!"

"You're only nice when you wash the dishes."

"Bite me."

"No, I prefer my dinner."

"And I won't share the mouse au chocolate with you I bought in the town."

"Mouse au chocolate? You will share it!"

"No, I'm not nice, so I don't share."

"Don't make me fight for it. I'm willing to fight for it."

"Say something nice and I might change my mind."

"Blue sky and sunshine are nice."

"Something nice about me."

"Oh…uhm…you…you are…a really nice woman when you share your mouse au chocolate with me. There are no words to describe how nice you are when you do that."

"Not good enough, your chance is gone. No mouse for you." Sara grinned. "But you can have the dishes instead."

"What about we share both? Dishes and mouse?"

"That's good for you and bad for me. I will do it because I am a nice person." Sara took the empty plate away from Sofia. There was so much mouse au chocolate they had enough for tonight and tomorrow night.

* * *

"Care to tell me where your thoughts were when the bread burnt? Or shall we leave it and forget it?" Sofia stretched out on her bed, petted with one hand next to her as a sign for Sara to sit down. When you had no couch and didn't want to sit on the chairs the whole evening, you had to improvise.

"I tried to figure out if I'm happy and what made me come here: To your place." Sara lay down. She had definitely too much dessert and needed her stomach to relax. Why didn't she stop after the second plate? No, she had to go for a third. Stupid. Now she had to pay for it. For something really good.

"Did you find an answer?"

"Partly. The reason I came here is you. The history we have. When we worked together it was a good time for me. Most times. When I exclude the fact that Greg; Nick and Brass almost got killed, I was kidnapped and had some tough cases. I was involved, worked in a job I loved and had great friends. You remind me of all these things because you were there. You're a part of them. I know I can't live in Vegas anymore but nevertheless can I just forget it. I want to remember the nice moments, learn from the mistakes I made.

Being here with you is the perfect chance to have the past around and experience something new."

"You don't become a bitch again, do you? Like the first weeks we worked together."

There was some mock in the question, but Sara knew, it was a serious question. She hadn't been easy, made it unnecessary complicated for the blonde. Something she was ashamed for now.

"No. I'm very sorry for that. More than for the bread."

"As long as it won't happen again it's fine. Sometimes you start off on the wrong foot."

"We did." Sara rolled on her side to watch Sofia who had her eyes closed. "Are you happy here? Can you be happy here? After all, you're not here because you wanted it this way."

"From the possibilities I had and have this is what I want. It's not what I wanted for my life, I had other plans. Sometimes plans get changed by somebody and you have to come up with the second best way of living your life. I can live here free, don't have to worry about a hitman behind the next corner and do something new. Different."

"Very different. Did you…or Evi…apply with your lab skills?"

"Yes. I added a few little things to them, not too much because I can't apply for a job with skills I don't have. Otherwise I blow my cover before I can get started."

"Did it perfect, they all believe in Evangeline from England."

"Yes."

"How much Evi is in Sofia?"

"What do you reckon?" Sofia turned and looked at Sara. "You know me, you were around a few times when I was Evi. How much Evi is Sofia?"

"Both are passionate worker, both don't let people bullshit them, they both can kick asses – or in Evi's case arses – and they both amazing."

"Any differences you spot so far?"

"Beside the obvious accent and decent? Evi lived on her own, didn't want people around. Sofia was very sociable, had a lot of friends and met with a lot of people. I can't remember the guys mentioned Evi at the pub at any time. She came into the village for work, left the same day or stayed for herself. Without pushing people away. And Evi refuses to flirt with men while Sofia opened another button to get a confession from a suspect."

"What?" Sofia sat up puzzled. How could Sara knew about this thing? She hadn't been around. Was it common knowledge?

"I saw it. The TV cameras were around."

"Oh fuck! They aired that?"

"Of course. A beautiful woman, a beautiful detective, opens her blouse a little bit more to make the male suspect talk is like the beginning of a porno, a guy fantasy."

"Shit. I knew it was stupid and wrong."

"I'm sure it made a few guys happy and sad because you didn't open up more."

"So much for my good reputation. No wonder I got some stupid comments the next weeks. Should have watched it…or better: not done it."

"No need to worry about it, it's over and people have forgotten about it. You're not remembered as the detective who opened her blouse to make the suspects talk."

"Good…for what am I remembered?"

"Being one of the best detective LVPD ever had. A detective who were also a great CSI and a colleague you could rely on."

"Thanks. Sounds nice."

"Makes it not easier to be happy here, does it?"

"No." Sofia sighed. She could have had a career at the department, become a captain or even more. She had all you need for it. "I miss Vegas."

Sara changed her position into leaning on to the pillows, looking for Curtis. "I can understand that."

"Shouldn't I be over it? After all these years?" Turning a bit Sofia placed her head on Sara's belly and whistled. Within a few seconds Curtis was on the bed, walked over the blanket and sat on top of Sofia's belly, looking at his owner. He went on to her nose, rubbed his own nose on hers, turned and made himself comfortable on her belly, starting to purr immediately.

"No. You didn't leave because you wanted, you left because had no other choice. Of course you miss it."

"Yeah…it will be difficult for me when you go to Vegas, Sara."

"Why?"

"Because it will make me think if I should do the same. If I should go and see my parents. Tell them I'm fine. No matter how dangerous it is. They are my parents, I can trust them. They would never do anything that endangers me. And I don't want them suffer. On the other hand, I can't stay and what does it give them when they know I'm alive but they can't talk to me. It would be too dangerous to have email contact. Wouldn't it hurt them even more?"

"I don't know…" Sara had no idea what was less painful for parents. Thinking your child was dead or knowing it was alive and you could never see or talk to it again? Both sounded very painful. One was the painful end, the other was a never ending painful knowledge of something you couldn't have anymore.

"I like to think they're over the worst pain and if I come to Vegas, they see me and then I'm gone again they'll go through all the pain again. One way or the other I can't win."

"No."

They were quiet for a few minutes, thinking of their conversation. There wasn't a solution for Sofia's problem, no matter how much they thought and turned every thought around. In the end they came up with the same thing: Sofia had to stay away from Vegas and stay in her new life as Evi.

"How awkward on a scale from one for not to ten for a lot would it be if I ask you to stay with me tonight?" Sofia asked out of the blue.

"Twelve." Sara answered dryly.

"Oh." Obviously ashamed Sofia bit on her lips.

"When Evi asks this question it wouldn't be awkward at all." Sara chuckled.

Relieved Sara was only joking Sofia blinked at her. "You didn't listen, did you?"

"Why?"

"Evi isn't into brunettes, she wants a sexy blonde with long hair. You are not blonde and don't have long hair."

"But I'm sexy?" Sara took her chance coy.

"For some people."

"But not for Evi?"

"No."

"And for Sofia?"

"Sofia doesn't care what color your hair has."

"Am I sexy for Sofia? Answer only with yes or no."

"Or."

"I am sexy for Sofia." Sara grinned.

"Never said that."

"Sometimes it's what you don't say. I stay with you. The last night in my new bed wasn't the best anyway. I need some time to get used to the new place."

"Want us to sleep in your bed? So you can get used to your hut and have something familiar around? And a watch tiger."

"Sounds good. I like the tiger in my bed."

"You get a big and a small Curtis."

"A blonde and a black. Variety. Nice."

"Who is your favorite?"

"I like Evi, she's cool and has this great accent."

"Want me to be Evi for you?"

"If you want. I'm not her type so I'm fine." Sara got up carefully. "I sent them a message we're fine and shut my computer down. Get the cute Curtis over when you're done here."

"Heard that, boy? You're supposed to get me over." Sofia grinned and placed Curtis on her blanket. Time to get ready for bed.

* * *

"I know exactly what you are about to do. Forget it, Sofia." Sara said with close eyes, her voice low and warning.

"Your eyes are closed." Not happy to be caught in the act the blonde starred at the closed eyes of the woman next to her. How could she possible know what she was about to do? A second ago she had been asleep.

"Nevertheless do I know that you have your cell phone in your hands. There's no signal, you can't use it as a phone. You are about to take a photo of me asleep. You better put your cell phone away or you're in trouble."

"Oh come on, you look so cute when you sleep."

"No! And I'm awake." Sara opened her eyes and saw a slightly guilty looking Sofia with her cell phone in her hands. Like a child you caught whit its hands in a cookie jar. No chance to deny the obvious thing. "Put it away."

"Spoilsport." The blonde put her cell phone away and lay down again. So much for her morning fun. She needed a plan B. "First you snore as loud as a train and now I'm not allowed to have some fun."

"I don't snore."

"Yes you do. I told you so a couple of weeks ago when you stayed here the first time."

"No I don't."

"How often have you been laying awake next to you? Listen to your snoring? You sound like Thomas the train."

"I don't snore." A pillow ended in Sofia's face.

"You do!" The pillow flew back to Sara.

"Bloody liar!" She started tickle the other woman who squeaked and flew out of bed.

"That was mean! I scared poor Curtis because of you."

"He was scared because you squeak like a little piglet."

"Take that back!"

"Oink! Oink! Oink!"

With one jump Sofia was back on the bed and started to tickle Sara who fought back the same way.

"I make you pay for that!" The blonde managed to pin Sara under her.

"Will you squeak again, Miss Piggy?"

"Shut up!"

"Is Evi also a squeaky piglet like you? Or is she tougher?"

"She'd make you pay."

"Would she kick my ass? Sorry, arse? Or how do they fight in England?"

"She'd kiss you until you say you're sorry. You're not her type but she'd ignore that only to punish you. After that you wouldn't grin anymore."

"You never know, I might enjoy it." Sara moved and managed to push Sofia off her. With one hand she gave her a push so the blonde fell back into the pillows, while she jumped out of bed and flew into her bathroom.

"Coward! This isn't over Sara Sidle!"

"By the time I come out here you'll be Evi and Evi has other things on her mind than playing your game. She has to call the HQ and talk to Bruce. I'm safe."

"For now. Payback is a bitch."

"Don't talk about bitches, they like a little Miss Piggy like you for breakfast. So does Curtis. Hey buddy, we've got fresh pork in the hut, help yourself."

"This isn't over, my dear. You're so gonna pay for it. Believe me!" Sofia opened the door the her hut. Maybe Sara was safe for now but tonight, when was Sofia again and had a lot of time for her revenge, the brunette would regret calling her a piglet.


	19. Chapter 19

**Part 8**

Sofia's fist hit the table hard. "Fuck! This fucker were here again!" Anger was all over her face. "They killed a bear!"

"What?" They had only started their shift, sent a message to the HQ they were fine and would look over the security tapes of the last night. Something must have pissed her off. Sara stepped next to the now black haired woman who watched two screen with security videos of the last night.

"Yes, they shot a bear. Look, there!" Both stared at the screen where a polar bear was hit by a bullet.

"It escapes."

"It's hit, twice. Less than half an hour ago. Bloody bastards." Sofia got up and opened the safe. Why didn't she start early this morning?

"What are you doing?"

"What I'm supposed to do. I go out, they are still around, I bet the bear hid and they try to locate it. They need to kill it and get their vehicle there. Call it in, time to hunt the hunter." She grabbed a gun.

Shocked for a moment Sara stared at her friend before she called HQ. "Here's Sara. We had two men shooting at a bear. The bear is wounded, they're after it, we're heading out to get them."

"Need back-up?"

"I don't hope so."

"We'll send somebody out anyway. Stay safe, Sara."

"We will. Over and out." She grabbed her coat and her gun from the safe. The first time they had hunter around since she was here. The first time she had to use her gun not to tranquilize animals but to defend herself from human.

"Do we take the scooter?"

"No, they make too much noise. We take the dogs. Small sled, four dogs. Hurry up." They locked the hut and went to their dogs. Choosing the four fasted they tied them to the sleds and started. Sara followed Sofia, whose anger was still written all over her face.

Fast the dogs carried them away from the huts into the white landscape. There was light snowfall, the sky was gray and the couldn't see far. Not carrying about this Sofia pushed the dogs to run faster and faster until she suddenly stopped them. Blood drops.

"They are quite fresh. Same for the footprints next to them. There isn't much fresh snow in them. We leave the dogs here." On foot they followed the blood trail and the footprints.

A shot make them dove. Did somebody shoot at them? Scanning the area they didn't see anybody.

"Are you all right?" Sara asked.

"Yes. What about you?"

"Too. I don't think somebody shot at us, it was too far away."

"Yeah…stay behind me."

"Evi, we're partner." First Sara wanted to say Sofia wasn't a detective anymore. They were alone, nobody could hear them. But they were working and at work it was Evi with her own past and not Sofia's past.

"I'm here longer."

"Don't boss me." Sara got next to Sofia. They had to go over a little hill, like a snow dune. Carefully they approached the top, crawling on their bellies. When they could look over the top they saw where the shot was from.

Two men stood a few yards away from a polar bear that lay on the ground. There was blood but the bear was still moving. Slowly, fighting against death that was clearly closer than life. It had no chance to win this fight. The men seemed to argue if they should shoot again or wait for the bear to die. Another bullet hole wasn't good for the price for the fur, a wounded bear on the other hand was dangerous.

"Bastards." Sara grumbled.

"It's a female."

"With or without a baby?"

"Can't tell you from here."

"Bloody hunter."

"This was the last time they killed a bear." Sofia got up. Time to make an end to this. "Throw your weapons away! You're under arrest!"

Instead of an answer the men turned and opened the fire. Both women dove down.

"They're running." Sofia got up. The men were about to climb another of the snow dunes. To get cover and escape. She had no other choice than follow them if she didn't want to let them escape. Their vehicle could be everywhere and when they reached it, the women had no chance to get them. Even with the dogs they would lose the race.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot.!" Another bullet in their direction, both women dove down, looking for cover where none was. Sofia fired back. More bullets. One men got down on his knees, wounded by a bullet.

Sara found herself close to the bear that looked at her with open eyes. Another risk they didn't need. If the bear got up with its last power and attacked them they had to face two enemies. The bear had no idea they were to help it, to get the men who shot it.

Obviously not able to ran anymore one man fell into the snow and stayed down while the other was close to the edge. One jump and he was gone.

"Fuck! He won't escape, no way!" Sofia got around the bear and approached the dune when the man's head appeared and he shot. Like in slow motion Sofia got down. He had hit her! Aiming for her again he got up a little bit. In this moment Sara pulled the trigger. It was the one and only chance to save Sofia. If she missed the man would shoot her friend without hesitation. One chance. It felt like she could watch the bullet fly which was impossible. Like she saw every little move the man made, how he aimed at Sofia, made sure he wouldn't miss her and…went down. Like he was struck by a truck. He fell backwards.

"You move and I shoot you!" Sara yelled at the second man who was still on the ground. "Keep your hands over your head!" Switching between watching the man on the ground, the edge of the dune and Sofia Sara moved forward until she was next to her friend. There was blood in the snow next to her.

"Fuck! Sofia! Don't die on me! Do you hear me! Don't die on me!"

"Evi."

Relieved over the word that was barely hearable Sara got down next to her friend.

"He got you. Where?"

"Shoulder…secure the other man."

"You're…"

"We won't be safe until you have secured them both. Go." Sofia's face was as pale as the snow.

Looking at her friend for a few more seconds Sara moved away from her to the man on the ground. Taking his gun away she got a pair of handcuffs out of her pocket. She wasn't a cop, didn't work law enforcement anymore and had to use handcuffs. Leaving the man on the ground with his hands cuffed to his back not carrying about his wound she made her way up the dune, prepared to shoot whenever she saw a movement. With one jump she got over the edge and relaxed. The other man was a few yards away, a bullet hole in his forehead. She had hit bull's eye.

"Help!" The injured man cried out. "I'm bleeding to death."

"Just what you deserve, killer." Sara left him where he was. She had better things to do than looking after him. Using the dog whistle she hoped the dogs heard her and came over. Sofia had to get medical attention, she needed to get out of the snow.

"They're both secured, one is down the other one handcuffed. How do you feel?"

No answer.

"No!" Falling the last yards she got next to the body that was on the ground and turned it. Sofia's lips were blue, her eyes were closed and there seemed to be no life left in her. "No! Don't die! You can't do that to me. Please." She pressed her ear over Sofia's face. Where was the breath? Why couldn't she feel the warm breath of her friend? Scared she took off her gloves and pulled Sofia's away as well. Pulse. She had to find a pulse. Come on. Sofia couldn't die. That was impossible. She came here so she could live, wouldn't get shot by a mob killer. It was just not possible that her life was ended by an illegal hunter. No.

Where were the dogs?

And how long would it take until the back-up was here? Could they be fast enough?

* * *

It felt like centuries. Sara paced up and down the hallway, not willing to stop for a single moment. She hated waiting. It didn't matter for what reasons, waiting was always painful and made her go crazy. Scenes from Las Vegas came back like flashbacks in a movie. She and her former team in the Desert Palms. Waiting for a doctor to come out of the room, telling them how the operation went on. Sofia inside this room, hit by one or two bullets, they weren't sure at that moment, her life at risk. Every minute felt like an hour until the doctor came out of the room and his voice told her immediately, Sofia lost the battle. The blonde detective died a couple of minutes ago. What she didn't know at that time, it was a trick, a plan of the FBI to safe Sofia, fake her death and give her a new life.

Now, there was no FBI, there was no mobster and the blood she saw next to the blonde, was real blood. Like it had been real there was barely a pulse. A déjà vu, a very bad one. And it wasn't over. If somebody told her today Sofia didn't make it, it wasn't faked. It was for real. And scared the shit out of Sara.

"Miss Sidle?" A doctor came out of the door to the emergency ward.

"Yes? How is she? How is…Evi? Misses Elliot." It was hard to focus on names. She had called Sofia almost twice by her real name.

"She's alive and she'll survive. The bullet was a through and through."

"Thank god for that." Sofia would survive, that was the only the thing that mattered.

"She lost a lot of blood."

"Can I see her?"

"You are not a part of her family."

"Her parents live in England, her ex husband too. I'm her best friend."

The doctor considered her words for a few seconds. "She's conscious, you can stay for a few minutes."

"Thanks doctor. Thanks for everything."

"It's my job. Room fifty-six."

Sara entered the ward and walked along the doors until she was in front of room fifty-six. She knocked on the door and entered the room. Sofia was alone in the room, her face as white as the sheets of her bed. Her wig was next to the bed.

"Hey."

"Hi…are you alone?"

"Yes. What happened to your hair?"

"They took it off. I need it back on in case somebody comes along. Can you help me?"

"Sure."

"There must be a plastic thing somewhere. I need it to get my actual hair under before I put the wig on top."

Sara had a look around. There was nothing. Only the wig. "It's not here."

"Damn it."

"What did you tell them about the wig?"

"I want short black hair but I'm not sure if it suits me and if I can be happy with it, that's why I try the wig. Better to test it first and then cut off the hair. If you cut first and find out later you don't like your new style it takes a while before it grows back."

"Good story. I can go and get one of this plastic things for you."

"Please."

"Where do I get them?"

"A pharmacy or a wig shop. Probably a pharmacy is easier. Will one of the guys come over?"

"Sooner or later they will. For now it's me. Bruce wanted me checked by a doctor before I'm allowed to get back. He'll come here tomorrow to see you."

"Get me the plastic cover and I talk to a doctor. I don't want to stay."

"So…Evi, you're wounded."

"I'm alive and this is more dangerous for me than being at home."

"You got hit by a bullet."

"Through and through, I know. Sara, I've to get out, I can't keep my cover up when I'm here. It's too dangerous."

"I don't like it."

"I know. I've no other choice. Will you help me?"

"I get you the plastic cover."

"Thanks. That's all I ask you for." Sofia smiled a bit. Sitting in bed like this was too dangerous. She didn't think somebody she knew from Vegas would be here, would recognize her but she was a woman with short black hair and not long blond. When one of her colleagues saw her like this there would be a lot of questions and attention, she didn't want. Didn't need.

* * *

"I had no idea which one you need, they had three different kinds so I got them all." Sara put a little plastic bag on Sofia's bed.

"Thanks."  
"Did you talk to the doctor?"

"Yes. He doesn't want to let me go."

"Of course not."

"Bruce will be here tomorrow."

"Wear your wig and it will be fine."

"No, I can't risk having him talk to the doctor. I agreed on staying here for a night and tomorrow I'll leave. No matter if he likes it or not."

"He won't."

"No. Doesn't matter."

"Bruce will send the company's doc to see you."

"He can do so and the doc will tell me I can't work for a few days. That's okay, all I want is being out of here and be back in my hut…who takes care of Curtis?"

"Ryan. He takes over until I'm back. I told him he can stay in my hut, take Curtis over and make sure he gets all he needs…do you have anything in the hut he shouldn't see?"

"No. I didn't keep anything that connects me with…my past."

"Good."

"Do you have a diary where you write down what happens to you?"

"Have you ever seen me writing in one?"

"No. Maybe you do it when you're alone."

"No diary, the other name isn't mentioned anywhere."

"Good." Sofia looked at the wig. "It would be strange if I wear it here, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"Bugger."

"They have seen you with your long blonde hair, it doesn't matter anymore. Nobody from the company will come, I give them a call, tell them you're all right but can't have any visitors until tomorrow afternoon. Plus you plan to get out of here ASAP; against the will of your doctor."

"Thanks. I owe you."

"We're even." Sara took Sofia's hand. "The next time you stay behind me."

"The next time we shoot first and then call out to them."

"Or so." She pulled the blonde into her arms. "I'm glad you're all right. When I saw you in the snow, you were so pale, I couldn't see if you're breathing, I thought I lost you. Thought you were dead. This time…it was scary."

"I lost conscious."

"After you told me what to do."

"That's why I'm the supervisor."

"We're partner."

"One day."

"Save your energy for something else than a fight."

"Don't disagree with me and I don't have to fight."

Sara shook her head and kissed Sofia's cheek. She was too happy to fight. Sofia was alive and she would be fine. All they had to do now was keep her cover up.

* * *

"Such a stubborn bitch!" Bruce cursed. "You knew about it, didn't you?" His eyes fell on Sara.

"I knew she wanted to leave hospital after one night."

"Well they made her stay two nights and in return she refuses to see anybody. I'm her boss, she got shot during her work time, I want to know what's going on, god damn it. I should fire her."

Sara bit on her lips. Bruce was mad. When he came to the hospital in the morning he was informed Evi didn't want to see anybody because she wasn't allowed to leave hospital today. Not even at her own risk. One more night, the doctor said. If she was still willing to leave tomorrow, there was nothing he could do. Today he wouldn't let her go, the risk was too high. So Evi – or Sofia – made the decision to pout and let nobody come near. Sara wasn't sure if this was because the blonde was mad or because she exactly that: a blonde.

"Did she do this before?"

"What?"

"Refusing medical treatment?"

"No and I swear if she comes out tomorrow and refuses to see our doctor she'll be fired. I can't do anything about her leaving the hospital early, it's her fucking stupid decision but I can make the rules if and when she works. When her doctor tells me she can't work for the next week, she won't work. If she can't work for the next month, she won't work. And if she plays stubborn or gets bitchy I won't let her go back t her hut. She'll stay in the village until our doc clears her for work. I should make her stay in the village anyway so the doc is around."

Sara doubted Sofia would agree on that but kept quiet.

"You take the snow car back to the huts today. It takes your load of food with you and Ryan will stay until Sofia is back. I don't want you alone there."

"I need to talk to the police again."

"Right…they give you trouble after defending your life while this other bastard probably can just walk away."

"I shot a man." Deep inside she knew she had no other choice. He had killed Sofia if she hadn't stopped him and the only way to stop him was to shoot him. But she felt guilty, like a murderer. She took a man's life. Maybe he was a husband, a father and there was a family without its father/husband now. Because of her.

No, not because of her. Because he tried to kill Sofia. He shot at both of them, willing to accept they could die. He tried to kill her friend. There was no reason to aim on the blonde, she was down, unable to follow him and it wasn't enough for him. She did the only thing she could to save Sofia and her own life. The evidence would point it out, she knew enough about evidence and law enforcement to know, she didn't have to fear any legal actions. Nevertheless she felt guilty.

"The company's attorney will be with you. You did nothing wrong, Sara."

"I know. I worked dozen of cases like this in Vegas. But it feels wrong what I did. I took away a life."

"You saved two lives." His voice was calm and gentle now. "You saved Evi's life and your own. He had a choice when he came back to shoot her. You hadn't a choice. Not if you didn't want to watch how your colleague dies."

"I know."

"Maybe you should take a few days off after you talked to the police. Go back to your family, get this out of your mind."

Back to her family? The only family she ever had was in Vegas and she wasn't in an emotional state to face the city at the moment. Sure, Greg's company would be good, he would take care of her. But the way she felt right now, all the bad memories of Vegas would get through to her and make her suffer even more.

"No. No I think I'm better off here. Vegas and its crime isn't a help. I want to work. That will keep my head off these things. Plus I'll be there in case the police has some more questions. They don't like it when people who are under an ongoing investigation leave the town. We don't want to piss them off."

"Your choice. But keep it slowly, will you? It's enough to have one employee down."

"I make sure Evi won't work."

"That's sound reasonable. I've no idea how you want to do that but I hope you succeed. From my side, I don't want to see her working the next two weeks. No matter what the doctor says."

"I'm sure he agrees."

"Well, he doesn't talk to me because she doesn't want him…is she always this stubborn?"

"Yes." Sara smiled.

"How often do you fight?"

"So far we haven't fought at all. When she gets stubborn I get stubborn too and after a while we're sick and tired of this game and act like adults again."

"Good to know."

"Bruce, I know it's wrong to leave the hospital tomorrow…"

"It is. No need to say any more words, Sara."

"If Evi doesn't want to stay here we can't make her. When we start fighting with her she won't act smart and try everything to piss us off. I would do the same when I'm honest."

"Yeah." Bruce grumbled. "Me too. Fuck. Okay, we support as long as she doesn't risk her health."

"Send the doc over a couple of times, this will piss her off and gives us the security about her health."

"You bet I will do that. He'll be very busy with trips to your place."


	20. Chapter 20

"Welcome back home." Sara opened the door for Sofia who came inside, accompanied by the doctor. He was in his forties and married to one of the women who worked for their company. Sara couldn't recall her name but had her picture in front of her eyes.

"Thanks. You can leave me now, doc. I'm fine, I'm home."

"You're injured, you need to lay down."

"I will."

The doctor looked at Sara. "She isn't supposed to work the next two weeks. No walks around, no trips to look for animals, nothing. Bedtime. She needs to relax, let her body repair the damage and the loss of blood. You lost four pints, Evi."

"I can drink four pints of beer, you think it will replace my blood?"

"An awful patient." He rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in three days and check on you. If there are any complications, anything that doesn't seem to be all right, give me a call. You need your bandage changed if it's bleed. You also have to call me if you bleed. A little bit of blood is okay, when you see the dark color of the blood through her bandage is very important you call me immediately."

"I will." Sofia sighed annoyed. They had been through this two or three times. No need to go over and over it again. She wasn't retarded.

"I talked to Sara, she's more reliable and responsible."

"Hah!" Sofia snorted with laughter. If the doctor only knew the stories she knew about Sara Sidle, he wouldn't have said this. The look Sara gave her made her shut up. Evi and Sara didn't have a common past.

"I make sure she stays in bed and leaves the hut only for a little walk around the hut, a hello to the dogs and that's it."

"Good. She needs her medication twice a day…"

"Doc, I'm capable of talking to her and taking my medicine myself. No need to act like I'm a toddler who can't take care of herself."

"I won't repeat what I said about you. She's all yours, Sara."

"Thanks."

"Means I've to leave." Ryan got up. "It was nice to be here with you, Sara. Don't forget to come back to the village soon." He hugged her. "I miss you a lot."

"I miss you too."

"And you make sure you'll be all right soon." He hugged Sofia. "I don't want to hear any complains."

"She complains all the time, it's in her nature." Sofia grinned.

"Get into your bed, you're ill."

"Don't you think she could be a really sexy nurse, Ryan?"

"No matter what she is, she is sexy. Don't hit on her, she's mine."

"In your dreams."

"In my dreams you're both mine. Talk to you soon." He blinked at the women and left the hut with the doctor.

Sara went to the window and watched them leaving with the snow car that got Sofia here. She wasn't able to drive a sled or sit on a scooter. Her arm was in a loop to support her injured shoulder.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

"I lay all the time in hospital let me stand for a while, walk a few yards."

"You stay inside the hut."

"You're not my nurse, Sara."

"I know."

"Good. It's not…hey Curtis! Come to mommy!" She got on her knees and picked the kitten up with one hand. Happily she kissed its head and cuddled it. Curtis was obviously happy about Sofia's return and climbed into her loop.

"This is nice, isn't it? You can have a nap in there, be with me the whole time and stay warm."

Sara saved herself a comment about the function of the loop and that the kitten wasn't exactly why Sofia had the loop. "Are you hungry?"

"A little bit."

"I make some pizza."

"Perfect." Sofia carried Curtis with her to bed and sat down. "Did you miss me? I bet you did. Sorry to leave you alone for such a long time, I had no other choice. Some stupid men thought it was a good idea to shoot me. I won't leave you again, stay with you for the next days in bed. We can sleep in, play a little bit and watch movies, fall asleep. Do you like this idea? Us being together the whole time." Curtis played with Sofia's finger, tried to catch it when she ran it over the blanket.

"He was looking for you." Sara came back from her hut. "Missed you."

"I missed him too."

"What did Bruce say?"

"He wasn't impressed or happy with me, especially when I refused to see anybody."

"I know. He worried about you."

"He always does. Did you talk to the police? Did they give you a hard time?" Sofia was more worried about Sara and what happened after she lost conscious. She knew a police investigation could be hard if the cops didn't like you.

"No. The evidence was on my side. I got cleared within twenty-four hours. I had no other choice."

"There's always a choice." Sofia held out her hand to Sara and pulled her next to her.

"No. It was either him or you, means no choice for me."

"You saved my life."

"Like I said, we're even now."

"Thanks Sara." Sofia buried her face in Sara's hair.

"I'm sorry for calling you Sofia when we were out there."

"That's all right."

"It's against our agreement….but I was so scared when I saw you down there. It was like …like I lost you again. I lost you once and the thought of losing you again was…the pain was indescribable. And then he aimed at you, didn't care that you were already down, he wanted to kill you…I had no other choice."

"I know and I'm glad you did what you did." Sofia kissed Sara's cheek. You're my personal hero."

"You had done the same for me."

"Yes. Nevertheless you saved my life, don't make it sound like you did nothing. Only if it meant nothing to you."

"I had thrown myself between you and the bullet in order to save your life."

"Luckily you chose to use your gun. I got told you did better than most cops. Did you practice target shooting?"

"I've always been good. Just because I wasn't a detective it doesn't mean I can hit a target. Also I wished I could have hit him in a way that didn't kill him. But I feared if I only injure him he'll shoot you."

"Did you have to see a shrink?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And he wants to talk to me next week again. On the computer. I don't see a reason why but he insisted on it."

"Like my doctor, they're all the same. No matter if they mess with your head or your shoulder. And they're always right."

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Sara grinned.

"Yes but I didn't want to say you're like a doctor." Sofia shot back dryly.

"I better check on the pizza before we have the smoke detector make the people at the HQ nervous. Come on Curtis, time for your dinner." The kitten jumped off the bed and followed Sara. Sofia had no other choice than watching how her kitten left her for some food. Love ended where the stomach began.

* * *

"I sent the last message of the day." Sara came back into Sofia's hut. The blonde was on her bed, a book in her hands.

"Means they should be satisfied and leave us alone until tomorrow."

"Yes. How is your shoulder?"

"I can feel how the blood runs in there, it beats sometimes. A strange feeling."

"Does it hurt?"

"A bit. The healing process. No need to worry."

"I worry anyway."

"I know. Do you wanna go to bed?"

"Yes, it has been a long day. Are you all right here?"

"Yes. I finish my chapter and go to sleep too."

"Okay. Wake me up if you have pain or bleed." Sara hugged Sofia careful.

"Promise. Sleep tight." She watched Sara vanish in her hut and picked up her book. Short biographies about serial killer. The cop inside her had bought half a dozen book about crime, criminals and police work while she was supposed to stay in bed in hospital. There were various book on the internet she planed to order the next time she was online. A nice big parcel that the guys could deliver with their food the next time.

How she missed being a cop. It was a part of her new job to chase hunter, the cop inside her loved this part. It was like being back in the street of Vegas, being a detective again. Get the bad guys off the streets. Maybe she should become a cop again. It was unlikely one of Moreno's men would find her here nor would any of the crimes she had to fight here, get the attention of a newspaper in Las Vegas. But how could she explain that Evi was a cop? It was never mentioned in her CV.

A new start? She was – Evi was – a British citizen, she could work there. Her grandmother had been a cop in London, she told her a lot about the work there. But how could she explain she didn't know anybody at the police academies in England? And if she said she had been in Vegas for her training, what if anybody tried to get information about Evi. No, there were too many risks, she had to accept, the time as a cop was over. For good. It was all right to read about cop work, catching bad guys and watch movies about it, it wasn't possible to do this herself. Evi had nothing to do with police work.

She got up and went into her bathroom. Washing was difficult with just one arm, especially when the arm in the loop was the right one. Brushing teeth with the left hand felt strange, taking off her clothes took ages. Tomorrow she had to face the problem of taking a shower. Or maybe washing was better. How could she wash her hair? So many complications, why did the bullet not penetrate her leg? It was easier to maintain an ordinary life with one leg than with one arm.

After a battle with her t-shirt she was ready for bed. Gosh, this took five times longer than it usually took. Very annoying. Curtis was gone, he had been on her bed when she went into the bathroom. Where was her kitten? Not at his bowl, not on a chair, the wardrobe was closed. Under the bed? She got on her knees. Nothing. Only all the boxes she put there ages ago.

"Curtis? Where are you?" No meow. He couldn't just vanish. Sofia's eyes fell on the connecting door. It was ajar. Did her kitten left and walked over to Sara? Left her? As quietly as possible she opened the door and saw in the light of her room that fell into Sara's hut Curtis on top of Sara's bed, looking at her like he did nothing wrong and she left him.

"Is there something wrong with your hut? First Curtis and now you come over." Sara said amused.

"He left me. When I came out of the bathroom he was gone."

"Your kitten likes being here."

"Looks like. Hey, I'm your mommy. Don't tell me you don't love me anymore because I was three nights away. It wasn't my decision."

Curtis purred, rolled on his back and offered his belly to Sofia.

"I think he loves you." Sara said.

"Yeah but he wants to be with you."

"Why don't you join us? This way you're with your kitten and I can make sure you're fine."

"I can let you know when something isn't right with me or my shoulder."

"You could, yes. I don't trust you that you do immediately. Come on, be under my personal surveillance."

"Only if you tell me what happened while I was away."

"Work details are for the people who work. Not the ones on a sick leave."

"Are you starting a fighting, Sara Sidle?"

"Maybe, Sofia Curtis."

"Don't. I fight dirty."

"You don't fight at all, you're injured. And if you don't get into my bed right now leave the room and get into your bed. It's too cold to stand around with your short sleeves and shorts."

"I can't put on things with long sleeves." Sofia grumbled.

"In or out?"

"Let me switch off the light in my hut." The blonde switched off the light and came into Sara's bed. "Haven't been here for a while."

"Curtis was here the last nights. He refused to stay with Ryan who took that personal."

"My baby doesn't stay with everybody. He's very picky."

"He isn't a blonde."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. I'm sure Evi would agree."

"No she wouldn't. Evi is me only with different hair and eye color. The rest is the same."

"The accent."

"It's a part of me too. Be nice to me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm injured, have been in hospital, you missed me and…I don't like it when you're not nice to me."

"You're whiny when you're ill."

"No, I need more harmony when I'm ill. It helps me to get better soon. Like good company."

"Why did you come here?"

"Because you're the best company I can ask for. You and my little tiger."

"Thanks." Sara got her arm around Sofia. "I'm glad you're back. It was nice to be with Ryan again but I missed you."

"Did he behave? Or did he hit on you?"

"He hit various times on me, that was all right. He isn't serious when he's flirting."

"He likes you."

"He does but not like he would like a girlfriend."

"You like him too."

"Not the way I'd like a boyfriend. All platonic. Like I don't share my bed with him, only you and Greg."

"He's your little brother, what am I? The little sister?"

"No." Sara laughed.

"Why not?"

"We don't have a sister with British accent plus Greg doesn't know about you, if you were a sister he knew about you."

"I'm not part of the family."

"We'll find a part for you."

"The unwanted step cousin?"

"You're not unwanted, I want you. I invited you in my bed, I must like you." Sara kissed Sofia's cheek. "I'm really happy to have you back. A little bit bruised, with a bandage but alive. There were so many awful thoughts in my head when I saw you in the snow. And every second I waited for the doctor was like an hour."

"How did they find us?"

"I got the dogs to us, placed you on a sled and took you to the hut, called Lorne and told her we need a rescue helicopter. They were here within half an hour, I tried to stop the bleeding and keep you warm. You felt very cold, not a good sign."

"The snow? It snowed that day."

"The snow, the cold wind, the fact you lay in the snow for a few minutes. I scared the hell out of me. The emergency doctor got you into the helicopter, one stayed because of the injured man and you were taken to hospital. I stayed until the police was there, handed over my gun, told them what happened – four times and went to town with to give them my statement again and have a look for you."

"The bullet wound wasn't that bad, the doctors worried most about the loss of blood."

"I knew you lost a lot of blood and I knew you were hit somewhere in your right shoulder."

"The first time I caught a bullet."

"Hopefully the last time. Promise me we won't do this again."

"It's our job to chase hunter."

"Yes but it's not part of your job to risk our life. Promise me won't chase hunter if there's no cover for us. That we won't just ran after them without any chance to hide when they decide to shoot. Please."

"I promise." Mostly because Sofia didn't want Sara at risk. She knew, if she chased a hunter, the brunette would stay by her side, refuse to stay in the back. If she wanted Sara save, she had to stay with her at a save place.

"Thanks. I feel much better now."

"Glad to hear that. Anything else I can do to make you feel better?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Stay in bed the next days, do what the doctor asked you to do. I want you back to your normal health ASAP. Ryan told me we'll have a company tournament in six weeks and the winner gets a vacation voucher, a long weekend in Vancouver. I want us to go there. If that's okay for Evi and her cover."

"Evi has perfect papers, she can travel around the world and nobody would suspect her to be not real. So, what do we have to do to kick their asses?"

"Sled racing, this ring game the knights did, only we have to be on the sled and get the rings off the hooks. Skiing, target shooting, building a small igloo, a small snow sculpture and snow volleyball."

"Sounds like a lot of challenges. We'll beat them and go to Vancouver. It's supposed to be a beautiful city."

"Yeah. So stay in bed and get fit ASAP. We need to practice."

"I do my best but I won't be the whole day in bed. A few little walks, playing with the dogs and scanning the security cameras."

"You're off duty."

"And if you don't tell Bruce he'll never know."

"He knows you will do it. He knows you."

Sofia grinned. "There won't be any evidence. You work with me?"

"Only if your highest priority is your health."

"I promise I will take care of myself."

"Okay. We've a deal."

"Perfect. Now we should sleep, somebody has to get up early tomorrow." The one and only good thing about her being injured was the fact, she could sleep in, have breakfast in bed and didn't have to get out into the cold.

"Yeah. Let them know you behaved yourself." Sara pulled Sofia closer in her arms, kissed her cheek and made sure the blonde was completely under the blanket. There was no need to risk a cold with all the other things she had.


	21. Chapter 21

**Part 9**

"Fuck!" Sofia's voice was angry and Sara heard her through both huts.

"What happened?"

"I hate this loop."

Under the watchful eyes of Curtis Sara crossed Sofia's hut to her bathroom door. "Do you need a hand?"

"I need a scissor. Cut off this bloody thing and be able to use my arm again."

"You don't cut off your loop, your shoulder wouldn't like it. Where's the problem? Beside the loop?"

"I can't dress myself."

"Shall I give you a hand?"

"Yes, please. Otherwise I'll be stuck the whole day in the bathroom."

Sara entered the bathroom and found Sofia standing in front of the mirror. She wore her sweat pants and socks, it wasn't a problem to put them on. The thing she got stuck was the bra. It was impossible to close it with one hand.

"Now you have to play nurse."

"I remember I played doctor and nurse with a friend when I was in kindergarten. We operated the stuffed animals we had. A half lost leg, a lost button or eye, a broken arm that we stabilized with a tissue, we were good. All our patients survived." Sara closed the bra and helped Sofia in her pullover. Very careful she pulled the sleeve over the shoulder and arm. "Done."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Help me to get my dignity back? It must be somewhere down on the floor."

"Because I helped you dress? Come on, it's not that bad."

"You don't sit around half naked, unable to do the easiest things."

"If I did I'm sure you would help me too. Come on, sexy back, the coffee waits for you."

"Sexy back?"

"Yeah, you've got a sexy back. No reason to feel ashamed for it or hide it. Except for the fact it's too cold to wear something that shows your back. We should go to a swimming pool in Vancouver, you can wear a bikini there."

Sofia furrowed her brows. "Are you okay? Did you eat something strange?"

"I haven't had anything to eat yet. Why?"

"You act weird."

"Why's that?"

"You're too nice. If I didn't know it better I'd say you hit on me."

"Your dignity might be on the floor, your ego is up in the sky; like most times. I can tell Bruce you're fine." Sara grinned and left the bathroom.

"I'm a good looking woman with a sexy back, it has nothing to do with ego when I think somebody might hit on me. It happens all the time."

"Arrogant and smug." Sara called from her hut.

"Experience. Even the nurse flirted with me. All of them."

"Your coffee gets cold, little Miss Smug."

"As soon as the coffee sees me it gets hot again."

"And when I look out of the window and all the snow and ice are gone it's because of you too. Global warming is a freezer compared to you."

"You say these things like it's not true." Laughing Sofia came into Sara's hut. "Curtis, what do you think? Am I sexy? Meow when you think so and bark if you disagree."

"And if you think your mommy is nuts just continue eating." Sara added and watched the kitten eating without paying any attention to any of the women. "Got your answer."

"He is distracted."

"No, he chose to eat because you're nuts."

"Don't you have to call Lorne?"

"We. She wants to talk to you too. Don't worry about your hair, tell her you didn't have your shower yet."

"Having a lazy day, eh?" Sofia said in very bad Canadian English.

"Your British English is definitive better than your Canadian English." Sara handed Sofia the mug with coffee.

"I'm good with everything." Adding an extra swagger she left into the other hut.

Sara shook her head. How could a woman be annoyed and frustrated one second and this arrogant and smug the next? The change from the Sofia, who wasn't able to dress herself and lost her dignity, to the smug woman, who left the room like she was the world most famous top model, was amazing. Not even the weather could change this fast. As she had read Sara's thought there came loud music out of the other hut. Justin Timberlake sang about the sexy back of a woman. Why wasn't she surprised to hear this song? The next time she had to think about the words she used to cheer the blonde up. It had worked but for the rest of the day she had to be around a smug Sofia.

* * *

"You owe me an explanation." Sofia pushed the chair away from the computer so Sara could see the screen. A photo of two little polar bear babies appeared. Sent by Ryan, telling them that the little ones were fine and getting bigger and bigger every day.

"Do I?"

"Yes. They weren't there last week."

"No, they weren't."

"Where are they from? Are they the babies of the polar bear that got shot?"

"Yes." Sara sat down and poured some coffee in her mug. "She had three babies. After we were all sent to town a few of our people came here. They realized the dead bear was a mother and there must be offspring somewhere. They started to look for them, didn't find them the first day. It wasn't until the end of the second day when they found them. Two were alive, one was dead, killed by polar wolves. There were only traces of blood and of the paws. They took these two in and sent them to a reservoir in the north east to relocate them."

"How long will they stay there?"

"Until they're big enough to live on their own. When they can hunt they'll be free again. It's not a zoo."

"I know the place where they are, they're in good hands there. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because I knew you worried about the bear and I didn't want you to worry about the babies as well. You have a very soft spot for babies."

"I've a soft spot for all animals just like you do. Knowing these two little cuties get a second chance makes me happy."

"Are you mad?"

"No, I'm happy they're save. But tell me the next time."

"There won't be a next time. Remember, you won't get shot anymore."

"Right. Do you have any news about the second hunter? Or am I not allowed to know about it because I'm on a sick leave."

"Actually you should be somewhere else, don't hear anything about work. After you are here and won't stop asking me, yes I do have some information. He's in prison, they press charges for the hunt and attempted murder of us."

"They only asked me briefly about the shooting, I injured him."

"Bruce told the police not to worry you more than they had to. He got very mad when they planed to interrogate you. You're the victim, not the suspect. And if they do anything to endanger your recovery he'll sent the lawyer down to press charges against them."

"He isn't supposed to threaten the police. They do only their job." Sofia knew how the officers felt, it wasn't easy to build a case when you couldn't talk with all people, who were involved. The last thing you needed was somebody, who threaten to press charges against you if you don't do, what they expect you to do. She had been there many time before.

"So does he. His job is to make sure you're fine."

"I know."

"But you still think like a cop."

"Yes. I should have made Evi a cop's kid."

"What are Evi's parents doing?"

"Her real parents are dead, died when Evi was little. She was in foster care."

Hot and cold shiver ran down Sara's spine. Foster care. Her past. "Did she have a good family?"

"Yes. A father from the States and a mother from England. They were both ordinary worker, nothing you can find any records from."

"Cop parents would be too close to Sofia."

"Unfortunately. I check on them on the internet. There isn't much, every now and then is a small article. They seem to do fine."

"I met your mother during the funeral…I think she tries to put all her effort in the work in order to make the men pay who killed you."

"I never said they forgot me or don't miss me. But they continue with their lives and I'm happy about this. Everything else wouldn't be good. We all have to continue somehow, have to cope with the things life offers us. No matter how bitter it is."

"Apparently there are some sweet times after bitter ones."

"Are there? In what time are you? Sweet? Bitter? Bittersweet?"

"It went from bitter to bittersweet and now it's almost sweet."

"Sounds good."

"What about you?"

"Bittersweet. I try not to let my past influence me, I can't change it, I can't go back to my old life so I have to focus on the present and judge only the here and now…doesn't work all the time. Evi' life is apart from the incident with the bullet good, she can't complain."

"You're Sofia, Evi is only a mask."

"This mask is my life."

"Still, Sofia has the feelings that matters most. If Sofia isn't happy Evi can't it be neither."

"Sofia knows this is the best she can get."

"Doesn't make her happy."

"Not entirely."

Sara took Sofia's hand. "I hope one day you'll be happy. Completely."

"You never know. What I know is you make my life happier. I'm glad you're here."

"Ditto. And now I go back to work before Evi tells Bruce I do nothing the whole day."

"She wouldn't tell him."

"Better safe than sorry. What will you do?"

"I get myself in warm clothes and go out. Maybe the dogs enjoy some time with me, I can throw balls."

"Don't work, don't overdo it."

"No." Sofia rolled her eyes. She knew her limits, knew what to do and when to stop. It wasn't like she didn't know herself at all.

* * *

"Under one condition you don't have to cook some dinner tonight." Sofia entered Sara's hut, Curtis by her side. The kitten became more and more like a dog. Wherever Sofia went, it followed her. Sara had to laugh at the sight of them.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because your watch dog is too cute. Come here Curtis." She got on her knees and the kitten jumped into her arms. "You're a cat, you don't have to follow her all the time, that's what dogs do. You're independent, you don't need human, you only use them, they're can opener for you."

"Don't tell my baby he doesn't need me, he loves me."

"He adores you."

"Well…yes." Sofia grinned.

"What is the condition I don't have to cook tonight?"

"Right…I made some rice with fresh veggies and you're welcome to eat with me – in my bed."

"Why in your bed? What is wrong with your table?"

"I can't stand sitting on the table anymore. I sat there the whole afternoon, was on the laptop and for the rest of the day I want something soft for my ass. When I was in college I always ate on my bed and it was nice and comfortable."

"Okay. Give me a minute to change…you should turn into Sofia too. No need for Evi to stay along. She can go to sleep."

Sofia grinned. "One day I'll find out what exactly you dislike of Evi, what makes you tell me the whole time to get back to Sofia…it must be more than the blonde hair and the blue eyes. Maybe it's the past we share…but I'm sure there's more. I'll dig and I'll find my answer."

"Sounds a little bit like a threat but I don't feel threaten."

"No need to be. Come with me Curtis, we change myself into a stunning blonde with deep blue eyes and wait for the boring brunette to join us for dinner."

"Boring brunette?"

"Sure, blondes have more fun."

"But they forget the fun they had instantly."

"I never forget the fun we have." Sofia grinned and left, Curtis right behind her.

"How can one woman be so smug…and I still can't hate her for it. Strange." Sara shook her head and kicked her boots away. She decided to dress in her pajama after it doesn't seem like she would spend any time out of bed today anymore.

"You managed to get into your sleep shirt." Sara commented when she saw Sofia in her night outfit.

"Yes, it's much easier to get ready for bed than for the day. I'm afraid I'll need your help tomorrow again. You can have another look at the sexy back."

"I shouldn't have said that, it makes your more arrogant."

"All I can say is that my back isn't the nicest part of my body." Sofia grinned.

"No, your eyes are nicer."

"You like them? Want to look into them all the time?"

"Not really. I prefer to look at the plate while I eat. Makes it much easier to get the food in my mouth." Sara got into Sofia's bed. On both sides of the bed was a plate with steaming rice and vegetables plus a glass of wine. "Are you allowed to drink alcohol? Aren't you on medication?"

"It's only a little sip."

"You do take antibiotics, don't you?"

"Maybe."

"No alcohol for you! Give me the glass."

"Are you serious?"

"Lets say it this way: you drink the wine and I'll dine in my hut alone."

"Okay, okay." Sofia gave the wine glass to Sara. "It's just a little glass…"

"Mixing alcohol with antibiotics isn't good, it can be dangerous. Probably nothing will happen if you have the wine with your dinner but I don't want any risks. Neither you nor the doctor will be happy when he has to come here in the middle of the night."

"You get credits for worrying about me." Sofia sat next to Sara.

"Thanks for the credits, your well-being is more important to me."

"I got you. Do you need some more salt or pepper?"

"No, it's perfect. How did you manage to cut all the veggies?"

"It took a long time and I swore a lot. At the end I knew I fight for a good dinner and it's always worth fighting for good food; especially when you can enjoy it with good company."

"You haven't given Curtis any of the dish."

"I meant you and you know it." With her good left arm Sofia bopped Sara. "Have you got an internet date with one of your guys?"

"No. Greg has a hot case and Ryan has to wait until tomorrow. No need to change back to Evi because he wants to see you."

"The last times you didn't have the camera on."

"Yeah, I told him I hate it when I'm observed the whole time. He has to live with the picture of my in his mind."

"He'll have several."

"Possible. What else did you do today? Besides play with the dogs and prepare some dinner for us?"

"I bought a couple of books, had a look for a vacation spot because I need some sunshine too. One of the Hawaiian Islands might be the destination, I prefer to stay in the country, there's less fuss on a domestic flight."

"Sounds good."

"When will you go to Vegas?"

"In April or May and I want to go for a few days to Los Angeles, some beach life."

"In May? That might be fresh."

"Yes, for that there are wetsuits and you can go on the board even when it's less than seventy degrees."

"With Greg?"

"He won't argue when I ask him if he wants to go with me to L.A. for a few days."

"No, he'll be happy to see you in a bikini."

"Did you forget he has a girlfriend?"

"Right…you got replaced by a cleaner."

"Nurse."

"Not yet."

"She's a nurse, all she needs are some certifications about the English language, that has nothing to do with her nurse knowledge. The country is desperate for skilled people and makes it hard on them to work in their profession when they're here. Did Evi have any problems?"

"No, she's English. It's much easier when you're a native speaker and have a father who was an American citizen."

"Does she have an American passport?"

"Yes."

"Wow, two passports, that must have been expensive."

"It was."

"How did you know where to…never mind, I think I don't want to know this."

Sofia laughed. "I won't tell you. Some things are better kept as a secret."

"That's right." Sara pointed to her left chin as a sign for Sofia she had some of the sauce on her cheek. Some things you better kept for yourself.

* * *

Sofia hadn't turned off her reading light for longer than five minutes when she heard how the door to her hut was opened and quiet steps came closer to her bed.

"Did you forget something?"

"No." Sara found her way without any light and sat on Sofia's bed.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes."

"But?" There had to be a reason why the brunette was here. She didn't come here without a reason, it was almost eleven, time for both of them to sleep. Was everything all right? Did she have a nightmare again?

"I missed Curtis."

"He should be somewhere. When I switched off the light he was busy fighting with the stuffed mouse you gave him. He really has a killer instinct, our little tiger."

"He's our watch cat." Sara slipped under the blanket and snuggled onto Sofia's left arm.

"Are you really all right?" A little bit puzzled Sofia tried to get a look at Sara but it was too dark to see anything of her face.

"Now I am."

"I thought you missed Curtis."

"I did."

"He isn't here, you're with me."

"Never said I missed him. I missed her." Getting one arm under Sofia's neck and the other over her belly Sara made herself comfortable snuggling closer to the blonde.

"Oh." Now that was…unusual. And so much not like Sara.

"Is it all right with you? Or shall I go back again?"

"No, no it's fine."

"Is it comfortable with your arm?"

"Yeah, your head is on my left shoulder, it's perfectly fine. Since when do you miss me?"

"Since you were here and I was next door. Plus this way I can make sure you will stay in bed and not go anywhere else. Like sneak out in the middle of the night and go to the office hut and check on the animals."

"Why would I do that?"

"You got told to stay away from the office, you're not very good in taking order and obey them."

"You mistake me for you."

"Impossible. We're too different to be mistaken for each other."

"Are we?" Sofia chuckled. "How?"

"You're arrogant and smug."

"While you are?"

"While I'm a nice woman."

"Uh-huh. I'm innocent says the angel with the demon's face."

"An angel is an angel. No matter how her face looks."

"So why do you miss an arrogant and smug woman? Why do you miss her so much that you sneak into her room at night to be in her arms."

"I have her in my arms, I didn't sneak and I've no idea why I miss her. There must be something wrong with me, seriously wrong. It's good the doctor comes over tomorrow, I can ask him for some medicine to cure me."

"He won't be able to give you anything, he'll think Evi got you and you're lost for the men's world." Sofia laughed. "If you tell him your story he'll think the office rumor is true and we're having an affair."

"Poor Ryan, it will break his heart."

"Will make him understand why you don't want to talk to him every night and why the camera is off. You're too busy exchanging hot kisses with Evi while you talk to him."

"Interesting story." Sara sighed satisfied. This was very comfortable. Why exactly she wanted to be with Sofia was a mystery to herself but when she was in her bed she felt lonely, like something wasn't perfect for a good night's sleep. And there was still this tiny little voice in her head that told her, Sofia could have any complications during the night and couldn't call out for help so it was much better when they were together.

"It is, isn't it?"

"What would Evi say about me in her bed? Snuggling into her arm, holding on to her?"

"What a pity she isn't a hot blonde."

"Evi is really a racist."

"No, she knows what she wants."

"A blonde…a real one or a dyed one?"

"A real one of course."

"They're hard to find."

"That's why she goes to Hawaii, the place where all the beach beauties are and she'll find the girl babe for some fun."

"So Evi isn't interested in serious relationship?"

"No, too much trouble."

"She might be right on that." Sara mumbled. When your relationship was serious it was a hell lot of more complicated than when it was casual, not official.

"You think? Do you have problems with serious relationships, Sara?"

"I don't have one."

"You had them."

"Yeah…what can I say? I was engaged and soon after the engagement the relationship was over."

"Not because of the engagement."

"No."

"Do you miss being with Grissom? Miss him?"

"Not anymore. Sometimes I think of the time we had, mostly the beginning when everything was fine. More often I miss having somebody at all. Life can be very lonely when we were in a relationship for a while and you're suddenly all alone."

"You're not alone, you're in the arms of a fabulous blonde."

"Right. How could I forget?"

"I've no idea, you missed me."

"Time to see the doctor, the one for the head."

"He won't help you."

"Not? Oh well in that case I've to sneak into your bed whenever I miss you."

"You can do that. Also when you miss somebody around and need arms that hold you. You're always welcome here."

"Thanks."

"And now you should sleep, you've to work tomorrow."

"Yeah, around noon."

"What do you mean with around noon?"

"I mean I told Lorne today I take the morning off, won't call in until noon because I want to sleep in."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. We're two, we can take care of ourselves, it's ridiculous to call in all the time. If we see somebody and go after this person, we call it in anyway. So I told her to explain Bruce we'll give them a call at nine, one and five and that's it."

"He won't like that."

"No, he'll call us tomorrow. Ready for some arguing with your boss?"

"For more freedom? All the time."

"Good. I take the first round and the blame because it was my idea. Bad, bad new staff member I am."

"Yeah, you won't become the employee of the year."

"I can live with that." Sara closed her eyes. "And sleep with that."

"Don't let anything disturb your sleep." A little bump on the blanket told them Curtis had finished his fight with the mouse and was ready to go to sleep too. Walking straight up over Sofia's body, he licked over Sara's nose shortly before he did the same with Sofia and made himself comfortable on the right side of her head.

"I won't." Sara kissed Sofia's cheek softly. "Sleep tight."

"You too." She was in between her kitten and Sara and felt like it was the best place on earth. The brunette held on to her while she drifted into her dreams and before she arrived there her left leg moved over Sofia's leg and secured her completely to the bed. Even if Sofia wanted, she had no chance to leave the bed anymore. Not without waking up Sara. But why on earth would she want to give up this spot?

* * *

When Sara woke up she found herself still holding on to Sofia, one arm over the blonde's stomach, one leg over her legs. Unusual not uncomfortable. This position would have been a reason for her to pull back, flee the room. She didn't feel like doing this now. It was nice to listen to the breath of the other woman, feel how her stomach rose and sank. It gave her a safe feeling, like…yeah this must be close to how babies felt when they slept in their parents arms. Did her parents carry her around so she could go to sleep easier? Or did they leave her in her bed and didn't care? There was no memory of her early childhood.

Feeling observed she looked up and found herself in den deep blue eyes of Sofia, that lay softly on her, a little bit of tease was in them. And a lot of…sympathy.

"Good morning Sleepy Beauty, how are you?"

"Good morning, I'm fine. What about you?"

"Very good. I had company in bed and both made sure I'm warm and safe."

"Your watch cat stayed the whole night?"

"He did and so did my personal bodyguard."

"I don't think I moved an inch the whole night."

"Probably not. Must have been really comfortable on my shoulder, making sure I don't go anywhere."

"It was. What time is it?" The alarm clock was on the other side on the bed and Sara couldn't be bothered to raise and have a look.

"Quarter past nine."

"Wow, we really slept in."

"Yes."

"Are you already Evi or still Sofia? Does it change with the hair and eyes or by time?"

"What do you think?"

"You don't sound like Evi, you must be Sofia."

"For you I'm always Sofia."

"True. What do you think of we take a shower and breakfast in bed later? Pretend this is a holiday. Banana pancakes?"

"Will we have this shower together?"

"There was Evi! I heard her! It's the time not the hair. Evi is here. Oh well, I'm safe she isn't in brunettes. No Evi, I will have my shower alone."

"Bugger, I could have used you for my sexy back. It's hard to reach it."

"Can you take a shower with your shoulder?"

"No it will be a wash. Still, you can wash my back."

"I give you a hand when you can't dressed yourself."

"The bra will be a mission impossible - like yesterday."

"Give me a call when you're ready for my help." Sara got up. "Come on Curtis, I prepare some breakfast for you before I jump into my shower."

"Since when do you have cat food?"

"Since we have a cat and I had the chance to shop."

"You try to steal my tiger?"

"He is already mine! Come Curtis, yummy in your tummy." The kitten got up and followed Sara. Sofia had no other choice than watching how they both disappeared. First they used her as a pillow, a living heater and whatever else and now they both left her alone.

She kicked her blanket away, took some clothes and walked into her bathroom. Time for a wash. A shower was faster and better, the problem was she had no idea how to secure the loop and the bandage. Until the doctor hadn't taken both off she couldn't shower. Maybe he freed her today.

A look in the mirror told her her hair needed a wash too. She could try to stick only her head into the shower and wash it with one hand. It was worth a try. Dressed in sweat pants she turned on the water, waited until it was warm and got her head under it. Like a curtain the long blonde hair fell over her head, covered her face. Next step, her shampoo. Lucky for her she had a three in one. With an irritated look she realized she could open the bottle and then there was a hand missing to pour it on. Straight on the head was the way. Guessing the right amount she put the bottle away and started massaging the lotion into her head. Every few seconds she had to hold on to something to not fall head over heels into the shower. Finally it felt like the whole hair was covered in foam she got the right water temperature back and washed the lotion out. By the time she was done she covered in sweat and could have started with washing her body again. The next time she would start with her hairs first.

Time for the rest of her clothes, time for some help.

"Sara? I could need your help." All she could do was putting her bra on so that it only had to be closed.

"Hey, sexy back is back."

"I told you my back isn't the best part of my body."

"What is the best part of your body?"

"You're far away from finding that out, Sara Sidle."

"You stand in front of me, almost naked and I'm far away from it?"

"I wear more than I do on a beach."

"Thought so. Lift your arm for the shirt."

"You're good at this, like a nurse."

"Better. You dry your hair and we turn you into Evi for the doctor."

"Yeah, hopefully he takes the loop with him, I hate this thing."

"You'll keep it for a little while. It's too early to take away the support."

"Who supports my mind?"

"Your way too big ego." Sara grinned, slapped Sofia's ass and left the bathroom.

"Sexual harassment!"

"It's only harassment when you don't enjoy it. Try something else, blondie."

"Cheeky. Very cheeky." With a smile Sofia took her hair dryer. Time to get ready, she had no idea when the doctor arrived. She had to be Evi when he was here.


	22. Chapter 22

**Part 10**

"Where's the camera? I can't see you." Ryan complained when Sara came online to talk to him. It was after eight in the evening.

"You know how I look."

"Gorgeous and I like to see gorgeous things quite often. Please."

"No."

"Pretty please."

"No. I told you I hate it when I sit in front of the camera and be observed the whole time." This and Sofia had already taken off her wig and brown contact lenses. In case he asked for Evi, it was important the camera was off. "Be glad you can talk to me and I don't go to bed it was a long and hard day."

"I heard about the hunter."

They had seen a hunter on their camera. Sara went after him while Sofia watched them on the screen as good as possible. They were in contact over the radio all the time and when Sara approached the man, he didn't try to shoot her. Instead he handed her a hunting license over. A faked one that told her he was allowed to shoot a polar bear and a seal. They were in a national park and the park ranger never sold any licenses like this to people. When she told him this he tried to convince her with a lot of reasons why he got one. None was good enough to make her believe him for a second. In the end she offered him to talk to her boss, the man who approves all licenses and he gave up. She took his gun and escorted him to his car where he was told to be at the HQ in less than ninety minutes. Charges would be pressed against him and if he disobeyed it got only worse.

"I wish I had used his gun to scare him away. Shoot a few times in the snow right next to his shoes."

"He, he, he, does somebody has a violence issue?"

"When it comes to hunter, yes."

"We should be allowed to use them as target shooting."

"Yes, that's a good idea."

"Talking about target shooting: have you trained for the competition yet?"

"No."

"Are you this sure you'll win?"

"If we win it's good if not, we'll survive."

"How is Evi's shoulder?"

"She's without a loop and can use her arm and shoulder almost as good as before. From tomorrow on she allowed to work light duty."

"I bet she's happy about that."

"Absolutely. And I don't have to babysit her anymore."

"You will have to make it clear to her she can't do everything at the moment."

"But I don't have to help her to dress in the morning. She can do it on her own."

"You helped her dress? You've seen her naked? Are there any pictures?"

"Yes. No. No. I can tell you, she has a sexy back." Sara laughed. Ever since she said this the first time it was a kind of running gag between her and Sofia. Whenever the blonde wanted to play the arrogant and smug one, she played the song and danced through the huts.

"Oh my god! It's not a rumor! You are a couple!"

"Huh? No."

"You saw her naked."

"I didn't see her naked."

"You saw her back…she must have been half naked which counts as naked. She got you. I lost you to a woman."

"You never had me and I'm not having an affair nor a relationship with Evi. Don't be silly."

"She's right, you know I'm into blondes, Ryan." Sofia entered the hut with a grin and sat next to Sara.

"Oh, hi Evi. Can I see your sexy back too? Please?"

"Sorry, you're not woman enough to see me naked or half naked."

"What is if I invite you to a beach vacation? I pay for everything and you wear a bikini?"

"Have you any idea how desperate you sound? Can't you get yourself a girlfriend?"

"You took the best one away, talked her into leaving the village for a hut next to yours."

"It was her own decision."

"Here are no other single women. I pray every day we'll get a nice one."

"When you get a cute one with long blonde hair let me know, I'll invite her over."

"No fucking way! When such an angel arrives I'll make her mine and keep her far, far away from you!"

"What if I send Sara back to you for her?"

"No. Sara doesn't want me. I'll keep the cute blonde, blondes are very sexy and you should never let the chance go to have one in your bed."

Sofia looked at Sara and grinned.

"Most times the blondes are only fakes." Sara answered dry.

"Faked or not, they are hot. I need to talk to Bruce, tell him to employ a few more women. Single women. Between twenty and thirty."

"Sounds good to me." Sofia said.

"They will stay here."

"Not if I tell Bruce we should build something new here, something that requires a few more worker. Like a nursing place for seals. Women are the better nurses."

"You must know after Sara was your nurse."

"She's a good nurse. And the nurse dress she bought in town…"

"What?"

"Ryan, Evi is teasing you. There is no nurse dress and there will never be a nurse dress."

"For the rest of the evening I've a picture of you as a nurse in my head. How am I supposed to play billiard with this picture?"

"Think about the best part of Sara, aim and win." Sofia advised him.

"Her whole body is the best part."

"Go and play billiard, we talk again in two days."

"Can you send me a kiss?" For good luck?"

"How about: when you win you'll get a kiss the next time we meet?"

"That's even better! Evi, you heard that! You're my witness."

"I am. Go and win your kiss."

"Will you add one too?"

"Two if you win twice."

"Ladies, I will so win every game tonight!"

* * *

When Sara was about to finish the chapter of her book the door to Sofia's hut was opened and the blonde stepped into the room.

"Hey, I thought you were asleep."

"No, I was caught in a world of computer games, lost a few times and made the decision, today isn't a good day for virtual games. What are you reading?"

"A book about cannibal killers. Quite interesting."

"Cannibal killers? Unusual for a vegetarian. Can I have it when you're done?"

"Sure. You can give me one of your crime books. The one with the new DNA techniques for example."

"Aren't we quite a pair? Both not working law enforcement anymore and all we read is about our old job."

"We worked these jobs for a reason."

"Yeah, they made us to who we are."

"Made us meet a lot of interesting people and we made the place safer for others." Sara put her book aside.

"I should say good night." Sofia said.

"But?"

"But I have some bad news for you first."

"What is it?"

"I still can't get my shoulder in a position to dress myself completely alone. It's impossible to open the bra with one hand. Can you be my nurse again?"

"Stupid question."

"Thanks."

Curtis came into the room, jumped on Sara's bed and rolled himself to a little ball.

"Looks like he made the decision to sleep here tonight and leaves me alone."

"If you want you can sleep here too."

"We need to get up the same time, back to work."

"You're on light duty, my dear, don't you forget that."

"Never." With a smirk Sofia slipped next to Sara. "It's strange."

"Being on light duty?"

"That too. I mean us, sharing a bed. When we lived in Vegas it never crossed my mind we would do this one day. Then again, it never crossed my mind I'd live in Alaska and work something else than law enforcement."

"A lot of things have changed, our relationship is one. I'm still happy I found out you're alive and when I wake up in the night, think it was only a dream, I know it's real when you're here. Plus we don't have anybody else than each other. I guess I'm your replacement for all your suitor from Vegas."

"You're not my ego boost. I'm not in need for something like that. You're my family, you're always there when I need somebody, you make sure I'm fine, look after me, worry about me. Sara, you're my family and I like being close to my family. Even when you don't want me to be your sister."

"No, you can't be my sister, my brother Greg doesn't know about you."

"I could be adopted."

"Who would give you away for adoption?"

"Nobody." Sofia chuckled and snuggled into the pillow.

"See. Whatever the reason or reasons are for us sharing a bed every now and then, I prefer it over fighting."

"True. Okay, I'll let you finish your chapter and sleep…or wait until you're asleep in case you forget it's a book you read and try to make me your midnight snack."

"The book says young women are delicious, I want a delicious meal."

"Only because it keeps me safe I won't complain that you called me old. Sleep tight, my female Hannibal Lector."

"Night, night, sweety…sweet pie." Sara smirked and took her book. True stories about cannibal killer might not be everybody's favorite bed books, she didn't mind and now there was a detective next to her. If a cannibal killer came alone she was save, Sofia would arrest or shoot him. She took care of her CSI.


	23. Chapter 23

**Part 11**

"Bye-bye lovely weekend away." Sofia sat sad on her chair. After six hours of fighting, shooting, running, jumping and whatever else, she and Sara didn't win the company competition. So much pain, so much sweat, so many hours of practicing, all for nothing. The only thing they got from this day was a meeting with all her colleagues, free food – good food, free non alcoholic drinks and a day off. Because it was dark when they finished their celebration, both women stayed in a hut in the village to make it back to their huts the next day.

"Next time." Sara sat next to her friend.

"We need to practice a lot…I need to practice a lot, you were great."

"Evi…Sofia." They were alone in the hut, no reason to continue to call her Evi. "You were shot six weeks ago, Bruce wasn't happy about you trying all competitions, it was a huge impact on your shoulder, we did the best we could."

"We were not even close to be the winner."

"So? We had a great day."

"Yeah."

"Come on." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "Is it really this important to you to win? More important than that you had a nice day? Were surrounded by people you work with, had a lot of great food and drinks, a day off and at least a dozen compliments how great you look? Are all these things worthless?"

"No, of course not." Sofia put her head on Sara's shoulder. "I was very impressed when you shot. You were better than all the others, nine times bull's eye. Paul hit only six times and he was the second best."

"Next year you will shoot and hit the bull's eye ten times."

"Not very likely. But I will do better in the rest. This stupid shoulder…we could have been away, have some fun."

"Now we'll stay in our huts and have fun."

"With another partner you might have won."

"I didn't want somebody else as my partner and I don't want somebody else for the next year. It's you or nobody. We're the outback team, we stick together and if we don't win, we will always look much better than the rest." Sara grinned.

"Since when can you be so cute?"

"One of the new sides of me. Like it?"

"A lot. Having my hair still short and brown eyes I can blame this kiss on Evi." Sofia kissed Sara's cheek. "Tell her off for it, I can leave the wig here for you while I get ready for bed. They gave us only one bed, I wonder how much they're convinced we're a couple. Regardless to the fact we always tell them we're not."

"People believe what they want to believe."

"Most times. They need some lessons in evidence reading…or better not, they might find out, Evi isn't real." Pulling off her wig and leaving it on Sara's lap, the blonde vanished in the bathroom.

Leaving the wig on the chair Sara got up and walked to her little backpack. A long day laid behind them. Early at six in the morning they left the huts to be in the village at nine, at nine thirty the first competition started, finished with a big meal at seven. Food, beer, wine and some rum 'to keep you warm' as Bruce said, they made their way to their home for one night. It was almost eleven and Sara was tired. And happy. It had been a funny day, okay they didn't win but who cared? It was all about fun, being with their colleagues and escape the every day work for a few hours. A little bit like the Christmas parties in Vegas only with a lot of sport before you got the food and beverages.

Should she send a text message to Greg? Her cell phone had a signal here. Or better tomorrow morning, when he was off work and maybe they could talk for five minutes. Now he was at work, probably at a new crime scene. Together with Nick, Greg told her, he and Texan man worked most cases together since she was gone. When her young friend became a CSI it was her, who was with him at most scenes. His personal teacher, the master who turned the student into a master. Some good memories.

Sometimes she did miss Las Vegas and her time as a CSI more than usual. The thought of returning to her home for eight years appeared only to be pushed away after a few seconds. Las Vegas was her holiday spot, not her work place or home town anymore. There was no doubt she wouldn't stay up here in Alaska forever but when she felt it was time to leave she'd go somewhere new. Warmer. In her mind she saw herself as a grandmother sitting on a beach, under a few palm trees, drinking a cold beer and watching young surfer, remember the times when she was young and was able to ride the waves as well.

"Are you already asleep?" Dressed in a pink pajama with teddy bears on it that called out 'Hug me!' the blonde came out of the bathroom.

"Nice dress."

"It's cute, isn't it?"

"Absolutely." Sara hugged Sofia. "I did what your pajama wants me to do. Try to find us a nice radio station for some music to fall asleep with. We don't get any decent radio station in our huts and I miss falling asleep with music."

"Shouldn't you say, you missed falling asleep with me?"

"Why am I supposed to lie?" With a grin Sara closed door behind herself.

"Because it's not a lie." Sofia mumbled. Or…okay, it hadn't been that long that they fell asleep together. Four nights ago, while watching a movie and both fell asleep in Sofia's bed. Instead of leaving to her own bed when Sara woke up she had turned off the laptop and went straight back to sleep. Exactly the same thing Sofia had done.

Like they were barely apart today. For reason unknown both kept close, didn't leave the other to talk to some colleagues. They went there together or stayed at their place and waited, who came up to them, talked to them. Maybe it wasn't such a surprise her colleagues thought they were a couple. Not that Sofia minded, they were free to believe whatever they wanted and when they believed she – or Evi – and Sara were a couple, it was fine with her. After all Sara was the best thing that could happen to Evi. There wasn't a woman who was more…who was able to hold a candle to the brunette. An amazing woman. She had been like this when they were in Vegas. There was nobody else - despite from her parents – who she wished to have her around, know Sofia Curtis was alive.

Curtis! Her poor little tiger. He was all alone in the hut. How could she forget him for so long? In the morning it had been hard to leave him behind, then she was so busy that she almost forgot her baby kitten. Lonely. In the hut. Of course they left enough food and water behind for more than a day but…he was alone. He wasn't supposed to be alone, he was a baby, he needed her, his mommy. Or Sara. They were both his mothers. Why didn't leave the computer on so she could tell him via the internet everything was all right and they would be back soon.

Did she just sound ridiculous?

"Ready?" Sara came out of the bathroom.

"Do you think Curtis is afraid?"

"Huh? No."

"We left him alone, left him in the huts, he has never been alone and he isn't supposed to be alone. He's a baby."

"He was alone one night when you were shot and we were both in town. Don't worry, our tiger is capable of taking care of himself. He'll have a party, invite all the baby seals and baby polar bears and they drink too much milk, eat all the unhealthy stuff and make a mess in the huts."

"We're not talking about a teenager."

"That's why we don't have to worry about excessive alcohol drinking and drugs." Sara got into bed.

"He needs us."

"In a little bit over twelve hours he'll have us back."

"That's an eternity for a kitten." Unhappy with the thought of Curtis home alone Sofia got into bed too.

"For a kitten or for the worried mother of a kitten?"

"Both."

"He'll be fine." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms. "Trust him, he won't be afraid. He can sleep everywhere and walk over all shelves, climb up and down the curtains and try to get our food by cutting the plastic with his craws. Did we leave anything out he might want to get?"

"No, it's all in the fridge."

"Good."

"I miss him. When I go to bed he's there, snuggles onto me, kisses me good night and purrs me into sleep."

"I can't purr but I can snuggle onto you." Sara pulled Sofia closer. "And kiss you good night." She kissed the nose of the blonde. "Like Curtis does."

"Thanks." Now Sofia had to laugh. It wasn't the same when Sara did this but it was nice to have her carrying for her. And when they left earlier tomorrow they could be back with their kitten sooner.

* * *

"We need to stay in one hut tonight." Sara grinned when she came to Sofia with Curtis in her arms. "Our poor baby is too busy running from you to me and back. He has no idea if wants to be with you or me more. To be fair and make it easier to him, we should stay together so he can relax and have us both around." She let Curtis back on the floor who immediately went to Sofia, who sat at her desk, jumped on her lap, further on the desk, sat on the keyboard, meowed and looked at her like he asked, why she paid attention to this boring box when he was here and needed her attention.

"You make more work than a baby. For a baby it's bed time, you don't have bed time." She picked him up and cuddled him. "Mommy should finish this report."

"Mommy should finish her work when she is at work and not at home. Maybe it didn't matter when you work, that you stayed in front of your computer the whole night, when you lived here alone. Now here are two annoying individuals who won't let you stay in front of the computer the whole night. Get your ass off there, play with the kitten and leave the work until tomorrow."

"Says the former workaholic."

"I learnt. Prove you can learn too."

"All right, all right." Sofia sighed, saved her work and turned the computer off. "I play with the kitten. You and Curtis go into the bathroom, count to twenty and then you can look for me."

"You want to play hide and seek with your kitten?"

"Yes."

"He's a kitten, not a dog."

"Cats are smarter than dogs. Go into the bathroom with him and let him find me." The blonde handed the kitten over and pushed Sara towards the bathroom door.

"Crazy woman." Sara went with Curtis into the bathroom, closed the door and sat on the toilet. "Your mommy wants you to find her, she mistakes you for a dog. Can you forgive her for this? She tries to play with you, I think that's worth a…I don't know…we should give her some credit for leaving work." Sara knew from herself how hard it was to leave work alone when you were about to finish something. Like Sofia had mentioned, the brunette had worked more than it was good for her when she was in Las Vegas. Her overtime was always at the limit and there weren't many reasons she accepted to go home.

"Okay, go and find Sofia." With Curtis on the floor and an open door she waited for the kitten to do something. Slightly irritated Curtis looked at Sara, like he wanted an explanation what the woman wanted him to do.

"Where is Sofia? Go and find her. Where's mommy?"

Curtis cocked his head, observed the woman, turned and went into the room. When he couldn't see Sofia there he went straight into Sara's hut. No Sofia. A meow as a call for her was not answered. A look into the bathroom and he was back in Sara's room, looked at her like he wanted her to find Sofia.

"I don't know where she is. You must find her. Go, find Sofia!"

He turned, went back into the bathroom and a few seconds later Sara could hear Sofia.

"You found me, you're such a smart cat. A real police cat." Sitting on the floor of the shower, the curtain still closed the kitten jumped on Sofia's shoulder and licked her face. "Such a smart kitten. Hey Sara, it's your turn to hide. You've got twenty seconds."

Arguing or telling the blonde Curtis was happy with them around and not when he had to look for them, Sara turned walked away. Fine, she would play this game.

"You found me, you're such a smart kitten. And now, we count to twenty and you can have a look for Sara. I bet you'll find her too. If you like this game we can try some other games, like you need to find…mhm…what do we have here? We can't make a drug cat out of you, we don't have drugs here. Same for TNT. No wait, there is some in the…no, we won't play with it. You find Sara and me and that's more than enough. I doubt our hut mate will support my idea of turning you into a cat that can sniff explosives. Would be cool…never mind, go and find Sara. Curtis, where is Sara?" Sofia opened the curtain and placed her kitten back on the floor. "Find Sara! Where is she? Where's your mommy?"

Curtis jumped back on her lap. "Yeah, I'm your mommy but you've got two. Where's mommy two? Where's Sara?"

Followed by the blonde Curtis went into Sara's room. Nothing. When he went further into Sofia's hut we was just a yard in the room when he stopped and turned. There was Sara, behind the door.

"That was a poor hideout."

"Maybe. But he found me faster this way and I can have him faster back in my arms." Sara took Curtis in her arms. "Come here boy, do you have enough from playing hide and seek? Shall I give you your evening treats and a good cuddle?" A meow answered Sara's question with an obvious yes. Like a puppy, the word tread was something Curtis understood. Watching Sara how she opened the box with cat treads with one hand while she kept him on her left arm, he became nervous when she had the tread. Still on her arm she started to feed the little cat tread, a thin stick of whatever meat, to him.

Like a mother and her baby.


	24. Chapter 24

"Our baby sleeps." Sofia switched off the light. Curtis had made himself comfortable on his newest toy – a cat bed that hang on the heater. The perfect place for a cat, always warm and cozy.

"He likes his new bed."

"Yeah, you choose it perfectly. I wish I had a bed like he does. On the heater, always warm, never feel cold again."

"You feel cold?"

"A little bit. Cold toes and hands."

"Wait." Sara got her feet on Sofia's and took her hands in hers.

"Better." Snuggling into Sara's arms the blonde closed her eyes. One day she'd learn not to walk barefoot through the hut, it was cold, there were a few reasons why she had slipper with sheep wool. Walking barefoot in Alaska got you nothing except cold feet and a cold when you had bad luck.

"You feel warmer?"

"A little bit."

"What about now?" Softly Sara kissed Sofia's throat, hitting exactly cervical artery. Gently she let her lips wander up and down the artery, noticing not only that the pulse of the blonde became faster but also her breath wasn't that even anymore. Her left hand had already let go of the blonde's hands, stroking softly over the side, pulling Sofia closer to her.

"Sara…"

"One word and I will stop. All you have to say is stop and I will stop."

"Words are overrated."

Sara smiled. She had been right. Her feeling had been right. Carefully she slipped on top of the blonde, her lips moving up from the throat over the right cheek until they finally met the lips of the blonde. First gently, like she touched fragile china, their lips touched before they kissed. Slowly, like both were scared the other one would change her mind. Ready to pull back when one said stop. At the same time they savored the sweet taste of the other lips, the soft skin, the warm feeling that overtook their bodies.

When Sara's tongue stroke over the lips of the blonde she opened her mouth and their tongues met. Again first softly, carefully before they started a dance, a hungry dance, exploring each other, tasting, savoring. So sweet, so warm, so hot, the taste of more. Much more. Like they both just tasted their favorite food and were anxious to get their lips and tongue of it, scared they could lose the taste.

She did it! She kissed Sofia. No, she was still kissing Sofia! Sara knew there had to be a reason why she wanted to be so close to the other woman, why she ended up her bed so often, snuggled close to her, was happy when Sofia came into her bed. She should have known it earlier why, all the evidence pointed towards the conclusion they both felt more for each other than an ordinary friendship. So obvious. And she had been so blind. Time to make up for the time they missed out during their blindness.

* * *

"Tell me, with whom did you have sex? Sofia or Evi?" Sofia teased softly, her finger running over Sara's arm while they were buried under the blankets.

"The original. I don't like fakes in bed."

"Not? Good to know." The blonde grinned widely.

"Besides, Evi isn't into brunettes."

"Like you're not into women? Or did I miss something? There were only men in your life, weren't there?"

"Only men you know of." Sara yawned, rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, kissing the soft skin here. This felt good, felt right. Why did she ignore her feelings for so long? Because she had no idea how Sofia felt and didn't want to risk their friendship, was the answer. There had been many nights when she thought of just kissing the blonde and even more nights with the idea what could happen afterwards. From an end like this, happily in her arms, cuddling to a slap in the face and a fight that made one of them leave. She had never been sure if her chances were good, if it was a good idea to risk everything when she could lose everything. The relationship to Sofia, their friendship, was way to delicate to risk it for an unwanted kiss.

"Care to tell me more?"

"There isn't much to tell more. One woman in college. Curiosity. It didn't feel right, it didn't excite me much. What about you? Miss Sex-on-the-motorbike-with-your-boyfriend-from-college?"

"Who did….oh, Brass! He's such a chatterbox."

"Yes. You didn't tell him anything about any women."

"Best friend in high school, also curiosity and a drunken night over ten years ago in…I think it was in Florida. Can't remember much of the trip, only I was very drunk. The whole time. Women's trip, we went to Miami, traveled up and down the coast…should be Florida…or Georgia? Was her name Georgia?" There were a few pictures in her mind. A bar, a lot of people, dancing, tequila shots, this woman who made her compliments, had been around her the whole evening, the tease of her friends, she didn't dare to experience something new, more alcohol, a hotel room…motel room? Gone.

"You're sober now and I'm not your best friend from high school."

"I don't plan this to be a one time only thing. Not if you don't insist on it."

"I don't do one night stands anymore. College time is over. All or nothing."

"I take it all because the winner takes it all…I might have lost this stupid work competition but I won your heart. No weekend trip can be as good as this."

"You're my trophy." Sara pulled Sofia on top of herself. "My gold medal. The first price. Who wants a weekend when the alternative is a weekend with you?"

"A weekend? I won't let you get off the hook with only one weekend. Try longer. Don't start with under a lifetime."

"Misses Commitment." Sara kissed Sofia. It was too early to make promises, in fact, it made never any sense to make a promise to stay together forever, because you didn't have influence on these things. When she and Grissom became engaged she was sure it was a commitment, they would get married and a shortly afterwards she was in South America while he was in Las Vegas.

"Miss Positive."

"Positive, promising, both good. Your skin feels good on mine."

"Ditto. Can I have you more often naked in my bed?"

"How do you mean that?" The brunette smirked coy.

"In both ways."

"More sex and naked time in bed? What about our baby? He might be traumatized because he had been in the room all the time."

"Did he watch us?"

"Maybe."

"Well, his mommies like each other very much, they finally could get over themselves to show it…he will have to learn to live with it. There's always another hut he can walk in if he doesn't want us watching…or we lock him in the other hut from the beginning…although I don't like the idea of him being locked out. Even less than I like the thought he might watch us. We don't do anything we have to be ashamed of."

"No." Softly biting down her way of Sofia's collarbone Sara stopped at one point and sucked the skin until there was a little mark. "A love bite. When was the last time you had a love bite? No lies, this is my personal interrogation. You're free to do the same to me."

"The last love bite…five years ago? It was Las Vegas time. And yours?"

"Same. Vegas time. Have we both been singles since we left Las Vegas?"

"Sounds like it. I was too afraid a relationship could endanger my cover, Evi had to stay single."

"Why did you make Evi a lesbian?"

"Because this way I kept the guys off me. It wasn't like I wanted a woman, I wanted them all to stay away and leave me alone."

"Until I came, found out Evi isn't real and refused to believe your lies."

"Yeah…scared the hell out of me. For several days I was nervous, scared, felt bad, saw your knowledge as a thread, no matter if I tried to convince myself different."

"Sorry. I only found out Evi isn't real because I know you."

"There's too much Sofia in Evi?"

"There can never be too much Sofia anywhere." Sara laughed and kissed her lover. "I'm sure if I hadn't fell into the water, you hadn't saved me I wouldn't found out about Evi and Sofia this fast. When we talked on the computer or I came over with Kevin, I never doubted Evi was real. They don't know Sofia, they won't find out Evi is only a cover for a beautiful and amazing woman."

"Thanks." Sofia snuggled into Sara's arms. Luckily she wasn't scared of Sara knowing about her. Right now she was very happy the brunette wanted her and not Evi.

"You are the reason why I came here, why I asked Bruce for a new contract. It's a nice job, great people around but the cold…I hope one day we'll find a save place for you in a warmer place. It doesn't have to be Maui but a few days in summer for a swim would be nice. Maybe we can move to a boring country place somewhere in the north west or central west. No mobster will look for you there. They don't look for you at all, they believe you're dead."

"I'm sure we can find something."

"In a couple of years."

"Yes. Until then you have to snuggle up with me in bed when you want to be kept warm."

"Or turn on the heater on."

"No heater is needed when I can make you feel warm."

"I made you feel warm."

"Honey, you didn't feel like you were cold. You warmed me…or told me you want to warm me when all you wanted was to get into my pants." Sofia grinned and kissed the brunette. "You played me."

"I took the chance to warm you in another way. And find out if I'm the only one who wants more than friendship."

"Since when do you feel so?"

"A while…I think. Took me a while until I realized I feel something for you that isn't friendship. There were a lot of signs, we shared often a bed which wasn't necessary because our rooms are next to each other. But it felt so good to have you around, hold you in my arms, be in your arms. And I'm constantly afraid somebody might find out you're not Evi or a mobster stands in front of our hut one day."

"I know what you mean." This fear was her constantly companion too. On some days she was more scared, some were better. Most times the fear hid somewhere in the back to jump out in a moment she didn't think of it.

"You make me feel safer, with you around I can relax better." The blonde confessed. "You're good for me, you make me laugh, care for me and when you told me, you want to move to here, stay with me, I was very happy. It meant not only I wasn't alone anymore, I meant you care enough for me to move here, into the big nothing. Because of me. There were a few butterflies busy flying looping in my stomach when you arrived and moved in. At that moment I knew it wasn't happiness because a colleague or friends moves in, it was more. How much more, what exactly it meant, I wasn't sure of. And I didn't want to become obsessed with something that wasn't there, that was nothing more than a crazy idea of my lonely mind. But the feelings never left, the butterflies never stopped flying and when you came over to stay with me it felt like they would lift me up."

"So we've been in love for a while, not entirely aware of it because we feared our own feelings and the reaction of the other one. We need to work on ourselves. On understand our feelings and express."

"Yeah. I look forward to learn this with you together."

"That means I've to declare my love to you quite often."

"And I've to do the same. We'll live in a hut with a lot of tiny love notes and candle light dinners. Poor Curtis."

"I'm sure he likes the fact his mommies are happy."

As a comment Curtis jumped onto the bed, walked to them, kissed both on the nose and made himself comfortable between them. No family was complete without a baby in the middle. In their case a furry one that meowed and gave nose kisses to express his love

* * *

THE END! Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoyed the story.


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